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(_ 



A BUNCH OF ROPE 
YARNS 



A BUNCH OF 
ROPE YARNS 



BY 



STANTON H. KING 

Author of "Dog Watches at Sea" 




Boston: ipoj 

Richard G. Badger 

The Gorham Press 



Copyright 1902 by 
Stanton H. King 



All Rights Reserved 



\< 5 



TH , FIl8RAfiV'"oiF ? 
CONORtSS, 

COPY B. 



Printed at The Gorham Press, Boston 



LC Control Number 



tmp96 026001 



Contents 




How I Was Educated 


• *3 


Mission Work Among Seamen 


3S 


The Forecastle 


• S3 


Superstitions of Seamen 


6 9 


The Lucky Bag 


. 85 


The Sailor and His Dudheen 


99 


Pets Aboard Ship 


. 109 


How Sailors Wash Their Clothes . 


123 


The Lead Line 


. 141 


Rhymes Foretelling Weather 


*SS 


Rules of the Road at Sea . 


. 161 


Signalling at Sea .... 


167 



"To Mary Bennett Holden 

/f NOBLE woman has passed from 
/J earthy and great was her reception 
^L JL when she crossed the Harbor 
Bar. 
I speak of Mary Bennett Holden, a 
young woman of leisure, who, for two 
years chose to employ her time in uplift- 
ing work among seamen, and made upon 
them the impression of a sweet, earnest 
soul. 

She was much of her time at the 
Sailors* Haven, joining with the sailors in 
their games and other forms of amusement, 
and was regarded by all as their personal 
friend. Her greatest joy was when con- 
tributing in some way to a sailor's wel- 
fare, whose honest, and other good qual- 
ities she learned to admire. Her delight 
was to take the trimmer from the stoke 
hold, dressed in his rough clothing and 
show him the educational features of the 
City. She was constantly doing for them 
things which contributed to their comfort 
and pleasure, and the very day of her 



TO MART BENNETT HOLDEN 

funeral, some of the seamen in port were 
given a number of comfort bags which 
she had made before and during her illness. 

Many a sailor has been led from a 
careless life to one of high purposes and 
Christian ideals, by having known her. 

In the spacious redding room of the 
Haven, hangs her portrait, perpetuating 
her self-sacrificing labors. The sailors gather 
round it and find consolation in looking on 
the picture of the one they loved. 

One evening the boatswain of an ocean 
steamer dried his eyes with his bandana 
and said "I like to look at her even 
though it makes me cry." Another old 
"Shell Back," who had wasted his years 
in reckless living said "I never drew a 
sober breath in Boston till I met her." I 
could fill a volume telling the various ex- 
pressions of appreciation tendered her by 
the men of the sea, but forbear. Let it 
suffice when I say she was their friend 
in the truest sense; there emanated from her 
heart that genuine hospitality which cannot 
be described, but was immediately realized, 
and made the sailors feel at ease. 

Her very presence diffused pleasure, she 
was the fountain of gladness, brushing, as 



TO MART BENNETT HOLDEN 

it were by magic, the cares and troubles 
from their faces, and making everything in 
her vicinity freshen into smiles. It took 
but a moment for her joyous disposition to 
breed a perfect contagion. She made the 
youthful heart glad and forced old age to 
throw off its apathy and live again the 
freshness of life. 

There was a healthful hardiness about 
her, that never dreaded contact and com- 
munion with others however humble. 

Her whole demeanor was easy and nat- 
ural, and without any pretension whatever, 
she won the confidence and respect of the 
sailor men. 

They sadly miss her, and will ever do 
so. She has weighed her anchor and sail- 
ed for a happier shore. We know she is 
waiting to welcome her friends of the sea 
into her world where there are no fare- 
wells and separations. 

To her memory I affectionately dedicate 
this volume, 

S* H» K. 



Preface 



WHEN a boy, as a part of my training 
on shipboard, I unlaid the strands 
of old hemp rope, and separated 
the yarns. Then after knotting 
the rope yarns together, the spinning jenny was 
secured on the top gallant forecastle, where I 
tugged at the bit of rope which was the motive 
power for revol-ving the spinning wheel. An 
able seaman rubbed the twirling ropeyarns with 
a piece of old canvas, thereby making spunyarn 
enough for the voyage. The remembrance of 
the oaths, cuffs and kicks from a cruel boat- 
swain, on finding some of the ropeyarns poorly 
knotted, makes me offer in fear and trembling 
this literary "Bunch of Rope Yarns." Still I 
hope that my reader may find some of the yarns 
knotted in seamanlike fashion. 

STANTON H. KING 

Sailors' Haven, Mission for Seamen, 
(Jharlestown, Mass, 



HOW 1 WAS EDUCATED 



How I Was Educated 

WITHIN a week after my first attempt 
in the literary field had been placed 
on sale, I received a letter from a 
woman in Vermont, asking me to 
answer the four following questions: 

"Was it the words of the hymn that brought 
about your conversion that Sunday afternoon, 
when you say you decided to sever yourself 
from every evil association?" 

"May I ask how you obtained an education to 
enable you to write your book, seeing you left 
your home at an early age?" 

"Did you go directly to the Sailors' Haven 
from the sea?" 

"Do you think it just the thing to place pool 
and billiards in a seaman's mission, and allow 
the sailors to fill God's house with tobacco smoke?" 

I did intend to write to this good soul and 
answer her questions, but before I could find 
time to settle down to such a task other letters, 



13 



14 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

reached me. Some asked similar questions about 
myself, others wanted to know about my work, 
two requested me to tell them the whereabouts 
of their sons — prodigals who were among the 
swine. And another letter in the form of a cir- 
cular desired me to ascertain if I could give 
some light on the baptism of William Kinge, 
who embarked at Weymouth in Dorsetshire, for 
America in 1635-6. 

I will now take up the first three questions 
of my first letter. The answer to the fourth 
question regarding the use of pool and billiard 
tables in a seaman's mission and allowing the men 
to smoke, to do justice to it, should be an article 
by itself. 

I will say it was not the words of the hymn 
which appealed to me and convicted me of sin. 
One of my father's favorite songs was "Annie 
Laurie." If on that Sunday afternoon those 
young temperance workers had sung that old 
Scotch melody it would have stirred me as much 
and perhaps more than did the gospel hymn. 

Seated in front of the singers that Sabbath day 
it was not the words, but the associations that 
hymn had with my boyhood days which made 
me desirous of changing my course of living. 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 15 

As I heard these young women my mind was 
filled with thoughts of home and loved ones; a 
longing to he the man my mother would have 
wanted me to he took possession of me; it en- 
tered my soul and permeated my whole being. 
During my travels I had heard many hymns 
sung, I had met religious men, but they made 
no impression on me. They may have done so 
in time. These young women singing this par- 
ticular hymn brought to my mind recollections 
of a Christian home and fond parents. I will 
frankly say that on that afternoon no thoughts 
of a hereafter or of God entered my mind. 

Among that gathering of women there was 
one who was so situated that it did not embar- 
rass her home life to have me visit her. When 
on liberty I was made welcome in her home. 
My birthday was on May first. She wanted to 
have me read the scriptures and so took advan- 
tage of the day to give me a handsome morocco- 
bound Bible, asking me to accept it as a birth- 
day gift from her, remarking that she would like 
to have me mark with a pencil all the verses 
that interested me. 

During this time, I was trying my best to 
overcome the ridicule of my shipmates. Some 



16 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

of them said in one month I would be as wild 
as ever; others, more generous, gave me six 
months to return to my old haunts; all were 
astonished and surprised to see that I had 
tacked ship. With my birthday gift in my 
hands, I seated myself on my ditty box on the 
port side of the gun deck, forward of the nine- 
inch gun, and opened the book. It was im- 
possible for me then to receive any benefit from 
the reading. I had my pencil in hand to mark 
the verses, when some of the recruits leaned 
over the gun and began to quote, or rather 
misquote, scripture, asking me to find certain 
unheard of passages which I knew were not in 
the book. One man wanted me to find the 
story of the birth of Tom Bowline, declaring it 
was given in Holy Writ. Although exasper- 
ated, I held my peace, but locked my Bible in 
my ditty box and walked aft to the captain's 
galley. 

I knew in this small corner I would find 
help. Lewis, the captain's cook, was there. 
Although colored, his intelligence and man- 
liness were far ahead of many white men, and 
he had a kind heart. So on reaching his galley 
door I told him how some of the recruits had 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 17 

bothered me and how I longed to sail in and 
receive a thrashing or give one. "Look here, 
King," he said, "don't mind them, boy; they 
are jealous of you. They won't do what's right 
themselves and won't let you. If you'd 
stand up there at the canteen and shout beer 
for the crowd, they would say you're a fine 
fellow. They don't want you to get ahead. 
Just don't mind them, but keep right on as 
you're going. Come to me any time and I will 
help you." 

Ah, Lewis, it was easy said, but difficult to 
accomplish. It was hard to resist the many 
temptations and to keep from returning to my 
former companions. 

Sometimes when a feeling of loneliness came 
over me and the tempter was near at hand, I 
searched out Mr. Howe, the ship's writer, a 
stanch Christian fellow, and in his company I 
would find help. Again one of my shipmates, 
a splendid character, one who attended his 
church regularly, allowed me to talk with him 
on religious topics. 

I held the rate of a quarter gunner, which 
gave me the charge of the empty shell rooms 
as well as care of the guns and ammunition. 



18 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

I secured a handful of candles from Jack of the 
Dust, and with my Bible tucked into the folds 
of my blue shirt, one day I wended my way to 
the shellroom. The shellrooms were forward 
and aft. Those forward were near the fore peak, 
making it almost impossible for me to go there 
without being seen. The after shellroom was 
under the orlop deck on each side of the tunnel 
of the propeller shaft. 

If my reader could visit the empty starboard 
shellroom under the orlop deck of the old Wab- 
ash, he would find, if they have not lately been 
removed, drippings of the candles which gave 
me light to read the story of Him Who "went 
about doing good." I could not mark the verses. 
All of them were interesting to me. The 
only ones I did mark were those I remembered 
hearing my father quote. For the first time I 
carefully read the story of our blessed Lord. 
It was during these quiet hours in the shellroom 
that I sought forgiveness and desired the bless- 
ings of a Christian life. It was there, as a man, 
I said my first prayer. 

It was my duty to instruct the recruits in 
singlestick exercise, big gun drill and marching. 
On a certain forenoon after I had finished 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 19 

drilling the recruits, I went below to the shell- 
room and was so absorbed in my studies that I 
forgot my dinner. The time passed on and 
two bells (one o'clock) were struck. I heard 
a voice saying, "Yes, King has broken adrift; he 
hasn't been seen since he drilled the recruits 
and he can't be found." I quickly blew out 
my candle and reached the orlop deck. Here I 
met two recruits who were taking an empty 
trunk on deck, the property of an officer who 
had been detached from the ship. I soon 
learned from them the hour, and that the boat- 
swain's mate had been shouting himself hoarse 
calling for me. The temptation to say I had 
been cleaning the shellroom was present with 
me. I mastered it and said to the officer of the 
deck, as I met him, that I had been in the shell- 
room. Before I could say what kept me there 
he, trusting me, said, "Open the armory and 
give the recruits their muskets." I had done no 
wrong, still I believed that the executive officer 
would rather I wouldn't use a naked light in the 
shellroom even though it was empty. The ship's 
corporal still mistrusted me. He went below to 
the shellroom and searched for liquor, believing 
he would find some there belonging to me. 



20 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

Now I feel I have answered my first question, 
I will tackle the second. My first recollection 
of school is, when a mere infant I was taken in 
the arms of my nurse and carried to the desk of 
my god-mother, who taught a primary school 
within a stone's throw of my father's house. 
From her I learned my alphabet and then on 
till I started to sea I attended school regularly. 
At twelve years old I was well versed in English 
history, geography and arithmetic. I could 
read readily, and aboard ship I enjoyed reading 
novels. Before I was sixteen years of age I 
had read nearly all of Dickens, Scott, and many 
other renowned authors. During my cruise on 
the Alliance I devoured everything in the ship's 
library, and was continually borrowing both 
good and bad books from my shipmates. 

The day came when I longed to be of some 
service to the men of the sea. I had gained 
strength in my Christian life and had won the 
respect of my shipmates. Those who had ridi- 
culed me now stood by me and encouraged me. 
I bought an English grammar, and with the 
help of the ship's writer and the ship's printer, 
I tried to master it. It was a hard task. At 
this time I formed the acquaintance of a local 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 21 

minister. I told him I wanted an education. 
His first words were, "Why don't you go to 
Moody's school?" I questioned him closely 
and learned from him much about Mount Her- 
mon School for young men. Next morning I 
sent in haste a letter to the principal of the 
school, telling him who I was and that my only 
desire was to enter Mount Hermon for a course 
of study. 

In a few days I received a large envelope 
containing a blank form for me to fill, and re- 
questing me to have someone of good standing 
in my community sign it, vouching for my 
being a desirable pupil. It also stated that the 
tuition fee was $100 a year. I had saved no 
money. My earnings were now given to the 
support of my youngest sister. The minister 
signed my application, I mailed it and in a few 
days I received word that I was granted admis- 
sion to that grand institution for young men. 

It was November and as the school term did 
not begin till February, I had time to save $50 
for the half-year's tuition. The ship's company 
of the Wabash was granted liberty every other 
night. The starboard watch would be on lib- 
erty one night and the port watch the next. 



22 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

I wanted to enter the Charlestown evening 
schools and it was of no use my doing so unless 
I could be on liberty every night. I obtained 
permission, entered the school and was exam- 
ined. Dear me! I was put in a class of small boys 
who were far ahead of me in their studies. They 
laughed at me, and, knowing I was a sailor they 
joked with me till I felt myself an object of 
their ridicule. It was impossible for me to 
study in that class, so I gave up the evening 
school. 

Determined to master the contents of my 
grammar book, I entered the wardroom one 
morning and obtained the promise of Chaplain 
Wallace to tutor me, which he kindly did. At 
that time the special service men enlisted for 
one year's service. My enlistment did . not 
expire till May. Therefore during the two 
months I was preparing for Mount Hermon I 
was anxious about my discharge. 

For the past six months, Captain James 
O'Kane had been in command of the Wabash. 
During that time I had given no cause to be 
brought before him. There were so many men 
on the ship that I did not think he knew there 
was such a mortal as myself on his vessel. 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 23 

Three days before I was to enter Moody's school, 
I braced up courage enough to reach the main- 
mast and make my request known to the officer 
of the deck. I think I see Captain O'Kane 
holding his sword in his hand walking towards 
me as I stood at the mast awaiting his coming. 

" What is it, King?" I meekly replied I wanted 
my discharge and told him my heart's desire. 
"Good fellow, good fellow," was his answer. 
"To be sure, you can have it. Make out an ap- 
plication and I will approve it and send it to 
the commandant for his approval." I did as he 
told me and my discharge was granted me. It 
was the best bit of parchment I had ever re- 
ceived, for on it was marked "Obedience, ex- 
cellent." I have it framed and as I write I can 
see it before me. 

The day came for me to take my bag and 
hammock and leave the dear old sea to begin a 
different life. Just as I was going over the 
gangway, Captain O'Kane came on deck from 
his cabin. Seeing me he sent his orderly to say 
he wanted me. The attitude of this kind man 
towards me was more than I expected. He held 
out his hand for me to shake, and held mine 
while he said, "When you come to Boston come 



24 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

aboard and see me. I want to hear good thiDgs 
of you." 

I suppose twenty miles was the farthest I 
had ever travelled inland. Now I was on the 
train bound to the backwoods of Massachusetts, 
more than one hundred miles from salt water. 
That evening when the train stopped at Mount 
Hermon station, I was stupefied. About fifty 
young students were at the depot, shouting and 
screaming their school yells. It seemed to me 
as though the inmates of a lunatic asylum had 
escaped. 

There were other men on the train bound for 
Hermon, but I must have seemed easy to them. 
I had no sooner stepped from the train when 
they lifted me into a sleigh and insisted on my 
staying there. They then took hold of a long 
rope attached to the sleigh, and, yelling and 
shouting, they hauled me along a path through 
the woods leading to the school buildings. This 
was my first sleighride, and one that I will al- 
ways remember. There was a quick turn in the 
road, and we were travelling at such a speed 
that in turning the bend the sleigh capsized 
and dashed me to my neck in the snow. The 
sleigh was righted, but on no account would I 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 25* 

get into it again. The students knew I was 
the expected sailor and tried to use all kinds of 
nautical terms for my benefit. I at last reached 
the principal's office and was enrolled a student 
of Hermon. 

I had only the necessary $50 for the half 
year's tuition. I required textbooks and 
civilians clothes. To obtain these I worked 
on the farm sawing wood during my spare 
moments for eight cents an hour. Every student 
was compelled to work two hours each day. 
Some were in the kitchen, others were on the 
farm. I liked the farm life. It was something 
new to me. One day the superintendent of 
the farm sent me to drive the ox team. He 
gave me my lesson. With whip in hand I 
started. It was "Whoa, haw, gee, get up." 
I forgot just when to say whoa, and haw and 
gee, so the oxen took full control. I had 
steered many a kicking stubborn ship, and 
could keep the worst of them near her course, 
but could not steer this yoke of oxen. We 
might have kept going on and on; as it was, 
they hauled the wagon so that a pine tree came 
between it and the wheel, which checked their 
progress. 



26 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

Any poor student who wanted to earn a little 
money could always find employment on the 
farm. The day came when, in need of clothing 
and necessary articles, I became depressed and 
low spirited. It took so much time to learn 
my lessons that I had but little to give to the 
woodsaw. One afternoon a letter was handed 
to me. Shall I say that I walked into the woods 
and had a good cry after reading it? I did. 
I kneeled in the snow and thanked God for the 
message that envelope contained. It was a 
sheet of paper, on which was written "For our 
old shipmate, Stanton H. King, to help him 
through school." Under this were thirty-one 
names of my shipmates on the Wabash. Pinned 
to the bottom of the names was a post office 
order for $28. This was a boom. Although I 
needed the money badly, my greatest joy was in 
the satisfaction of knowing my shipmates 
thought kindly of me, and remembered me in 
this way. Never have I received a gift which 
gave me such real happiness as this did. 

The summer arrived and many of the students 
were preparing to start for their homes as soon 
as the school closed. I did not know what I 
should do. It was necessary for me to earn 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 27 

enough money to pay my way along through 
the summer months, and to hare a balance of 
$ 100 for the coming year's tuition. 

The week before the term closed, a book 
agent visited the school, and before he left I 
was on his list as an agent for him during the 
summer. As soon as the examinations were 
over, I started to cover the territory. I called 
at several houses and found a cold reception at 
every door. The third morning I knocked on 
the door of a country house. A woman greeted 
me with, "I don't want anything" and shut the 
door. I felt annoyed to be treated in this way 
and discouraged. I knocked again and con- 
tinued knocking till the door reopened. 
Believing myself a failure as a book agent, I cast 
my prospectus and outfit at the woman's feet 
and walked away. 

By a brook in this country place I met a 
man who was leaning over a small bridge. 
He had a fishing-rod in his hand. I watched 
him haul up a little fish, which seemed to afford 
him lots of fun. I ventured to ask what 
pleasure he derived from such child's play, for 
to me the pleasure of fishing was to have a fish 
on a line whose strength would almost tug me 



28 A BUNCH OP ROPE YARNS 

overboard. We soon became acquainted, and 
after telling him a few of my deep-sea fishing 
experiences, he informed me that he was the 
Congregational minister of the village. He 
invited me to dine with him, and had me prom- 
ise I would relate some sea experiences to his 
church people that night. It was prayer-meet- 
ing night. It had been rumored that a sailor 
was to tell sea stories after the meeting. That 
night I was surprised to find the vestry of this 
country church filled with people. When my 
time came to begin I warmed up to the occasion, 
and made a good hit. They gave me splendid 
attention and I talked for an hour and a half. 
At the close the minister told my audience 
that I was a poor student and asked for a liberal 
collection for me. I was given $ 17.81 and a 
new field to plough. This good minister en- 
joyed my stories and gave me letters to other 
ministers. I told sea stories in four other towns. 
My eyes began to trouble me and I was forced 
to make sail for Boston for treatment. I called 
at the Boston Baptist Bethel and offered 
my services for my board, so that I could 
visit the Eye and Ear Infirmary. I worked in 
this field for three weeks. 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 29 

I was indeed disheartened when, standing in 
the presence of Mr. Cutler, the principal of 
Mount Hermon, I related my summer experi- 
ences, but was cheered when he told me that a 
Christian man in Philadelphia had sent him 
1100 to pay the tuition of a faithful student, 
and he had decided to use it for my tuition fee. 

Other avenues opened for me to earn a few 
dollars. The students who could address an 
audience or could lead a meeting had ample 
opportunity to take the services in some neigh- 
boring church where the congregation was too 
poor to pay the stipend of a regular minister. 
In this way I earned a little. 

On one occasion I was sent to a country 
church. It was Saturday night when I reached 
the station, which was four miles from the 
village proper. Arrangements had been made 
with some of the church people to meet me at 
the depot, and to look after my welfare till 
Monday morning. A maiden lady about forty- 
five years old approached me as I left the train 
and inquired of me if I was Mr. King. "Yes 
ma'am," I replied. She then informed me that I 
was to stay at her home and that the sleigh was 
waiting for me. I got in and she took a seat 



30 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

beside me. I don't think we spoke a dozen 
words during the four miles ride. I was cold 
and so was she. When we reached the house 
we were met by another maiden lady, who, I 
should say, was fifty. She was introduced to 
me as a sister of my imperturbable friend. By- 
and-by the aged father came in. Supper was 
served. 

The old man lighted his pipe and smoked till 
he fell asleep. About ten o'clock the two 
maidens looked in and the oldest said, "Father, 
it's time for prayers." The old man shook 
himself, put on his glasses and read from the 
Bible and then asked me to lead in prayer, 
which I did. When I announced that I was 
ready for bed, the youngest daughter took a 
lamp and told me to follow her. The guest 
chamber was as cold as a graveyard in mid- win- 
ter. Placing the lamp on a small table by the 
side of the bed, she said "Good night" and de- 
parted. I quickly unrobed, puffed the light 
out and jumped in, but quickly jumped out 
again and shouted "Help!" For my comfort 
these two dear creatures had placed a warm 
soapstone in my bed. Fortunately it was 
wrapped in woolen cloths or I should have been 



HOW I WAS EDUCATED 31 

disabled for life. As it was, I thought my back 
was broken. The old farmer, followed by his 
daughters, hastened to my room. "What is it, 
Mr. King? What is the matter?" I looked 
at the stone on the floor and said, "Oh, noth- 
ing much. Please don't mind me. I'm taken 
this way once in a while." 

For some time I could hear them laughing 
at my expense. Having no use for such things 
in tropical countries, and not being provided 
with them at sea, I was ignorant of the exist- 
ence of the soapstone for heating purposes. I 
intend if ever I have to make a trip around the 
Horn to take along a couple of bricks and 
warm them in the galley stove, to be used in 
my bunk when below. 

In answer to the third question, I will say 
that while holding a service in the town of 
Guilford, Vt., I met the minister of the Episco- 
pal Church. He proved to be my old captain 
of the Kearsarge, Commander Allan D. Brown. 
He lived in Brattleboro, after being retired 
from the United States Navy. I spent many 
pleasant hours in his home in Brattleboro. It 
was he who sent word to the Episcopal City 
Mission that a sailor named King was at Mount 



32 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

Hermon, and would prove a profitable acquisi- 
tion to their sailor work if they were to secure 
his services. I was asked by them to work in 
their field during my summer vacation. I ac- 
cepted the call and at the close of the summer 
the Superintendent of the Sailor's Haven in 
Charlestown held out every inducement for me 
to remain as his assistant. I yielded to him 
and here I am. 



MISSION WORK AMONG 

SEAMEN 



Mission Work Among 
Seamen 

IN answer to my fourth question I would 
first repeat what I said in Bog Watches 
at Sea: "Missions are not what they were 
twenty years ago. Then they were tame 
and unattractive; places where seamen thought 
men were made 'goody goody.' Seamen steered 
clear of them then. To-day the missions have 
excellent concerts, full of healthy fun and frolic 
to influence the sailor and to satisfy his social 
nature; pool and billiard tables, games and a 
smoking room. All these things are as good 
there as in a bar-room." 

The important aim of a sailor's mission is the 
salvation of men. It is generally admitted 
that the sailor is, at heart, a religious man. 
During my twelve years at sea and my ten 
years as a missionary to seamen, I have never 
met one sailor who did not believe in God. I 

35 



36 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

do not mean that every sailor I have met was 
a professing Christian; that all have turned 
from sin and wrong doing, and, being penitent, 
sought forgiveness from God; but rather that 
there is no doubt in their minds of the existence 
of God. "The Heavens declare the Glory of 
God, and the firmament sheweth His handi- 
work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
night unto night sheweth knowledge.'* Can 
we not see that as the shepherd boy whose life 
was in the open saw the Heavens declaring the 
glory of God, so may the same impression be 
made on the minds of others. 

When the sailor stands his lonely watch at 
night, with the sea around him calm and peace- 
ful as the sleep of his tired shipmates, slumber- 
ing below, the spreading canopy above him 
covered with countless stars, shew to him God's 
handiwork. Again he is called on deck, the 
barometer has fallen, dark threatening clouds 
have gathered to windward and are rolling to- 
wards his craft. His vessel now groaning under 
the pressure of the gale with lee scuppers 
awash, the sea wild and fierce as an untamed 
beast, the lightning darting through the black 
and frightening sky, all speak to him of a 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 37 

higher power; and as many a bad man has a 
good mother, so many a sailor, who, although 
living a life of recklessness, has no doubt of the 
existence of God, and that He is good. 

The sailor has a religious nature. He is as 
other men and should be treated as such. 
Some seamen drink to excess, swear im- 
moderately, and live loosely, so do some men on 
shore. I think it not only unnecessary, but 
wrong to approach a clean respectable seaman 
as he enters our presence and pounce upon him 
as though he were an object of our special re- 
ligious efforts, or as though he required our 
charity, and thereby make him feel that he needs 
reforming. 

I have met seaman's missionaries who have 
told me that they have not time to entertain 
sailors, as their stay in port is of so short a 
duration that they feel it their duty to seek the 
salvation of Jack's soul. Naturally such a 
missionary would have his mission strictly re- 
ligious, if I may use such an expression. I have 
been shipmate with men who conversed about 
such places, and would never enter their doors, 
knowing what to expect therein. Who is there 
among us that would enter a Church, if we felt 



38 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

that we were numbered among the fallen and it 
was known among the congregation that the 
service, the singing, and the sermon were for 
our special benefit? 

I say again that the important aim of a sailor's 
mission is the salvation of men for this world 
and all others, and any mission which fails in 
that is no better nor worse than a respectable 
club, which in itself is a grand institution. I 
understand the great desire there is in the 
Christian heart to have the men of the sea 
openly confess Christ as their Saviour, and of 
their aim to save them to Eternal Life with God; 
but are we reaching the great mass of seamen 
when we make our mission a church? A sailor's 
mission is a church; but it is also a home for 
him while in port. It is not intended merely 
for use once or twice a week, but it is open 
from early morning till late at night, every day 
in the year, just as every home is open to the 
family that dwells therein. What sort of a 
home would it be with nothing in it but re- 
ligious exercises? Where only hymns are sung, 
nothing is read but the Bible, no conversation 
but that of the joy of Heaven and the torture 
of Hell, no laughter, fun or frivolity, only the 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 39 

quiet, sober, slow going actions of a feeble per- 
son? Such, a home to say the least would not only 
be monotonous but killing, especially to young 
people having physical, social and mental 
wants, as well as spiritual longings. Person- 
ally I will say that such a home would sink 
and submerge me into ineptitude. We have 
not reached Heaven yet, we are still on earth 
and to my liking, if Heaven is as some describe 
it, I for one prefer to remain on earth, or go to 
some place like it. 

We have come to understand what St. Paul 
meant when he said our bodies are temples of 
the Holy Ghost, and that we are to glorify God 
in our bodies as well as in our spirit. Realiz- 
ing this we have established gymnasiums for 
the development of the physical, built libraries 
for the growth of the mental and we support 
clubs for the improvement of the social. 

Now if we who live on shore provide these 
things which go to make up the whole man, 
why should we expect the sailor to be debarred 
from them? Sure enough he doesn't need a 
gymnasium for exercise, he gets enough of that 
aboard his ship, but he does enjoy these other 
things of which I speak. Men pay large sums 



40 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

of money to join certain social clubs, and some 
who do not believe in clubs unite themselves 
with the Young MeD's Christian Association, 
but the sailor is expected to be content to sit 
in some religious reading room, stripped of all 
home appearances for the sake of sanctity, where, 
when the hour of the prayer meeting comes, he 
must put away his magazine to attend the 
meeting or go out on the street. Were I a 
sailor I would choose the street at such a time, 
that by so doing dispel from the missionary's 
mind the idea that I was a bad child who need- 
ed his correction, and give him the thought 
that I were a man, if he could so receive it. 

When the sailor visits the mission, his sup- 
posed home while in port, he does not care to 
sing hymns all the time, he will not constantly 
read the Bible for he enjoys the literature of 
the day. We must provide for him the home 
life, sociability and freedom in the mission, or 
he will find it in that most democratic social 
settlement, the saloon. What we need is more 
good judgment, the knack of being a compan- 
ion and a friend, and catch the meaning of the 
social teaching of Christ. "Inasmuch as ye did 
it unto one of the least of these." 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 41 

The majority of people believe that sailors 
have a religious nature and all who are acquaint- 
ed with Jack know how strong a social mortal 
he is. Whatever else he may lack, he surely 
has a longing for fun and frolic. It is easy for 
us to understand why his social instincts are so 
predominant when ashore, and knowing that he 
desires fun and amusement we place them in his 
home, thereby keeping him from seeking it in 
places whose very atmosphere is contaminating. 

When a ship is in port and the day's work is 
over, the men are anxious to leave the forecastle 
and hasten to the shore, where they may find 
enjoyment. They are away from their homes 
and loved ones, they have been isolated from 
the world perhaps for months, they have seen 
only the faces of their own shipmates, they have 
exchanged their thoughts till each man's knowl- 
edge is thread worn. The work has become 
tiresome for want of change, the voyage with 
all its changes of storm and calm has grown 
monotonous. They hail with delight the pilot 
and with a light heart they walk ashore. Now 
Jack's social nature asserts itself, and he seeks 
a place to satisfy it. It may be he is taking his 
bag of clothes with him steering a course for a 



42 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

boarding house. Is lie at home when he enters 
such a door? True enough he has the money to 
pay for what he eats and drinks and where he 
sleeps; but has this temporary abiding place 
that which satisfies his social life? Far from 
it. 

Take the sailor who is working on his ship 
in port, or is staying in a boarding house. Ask 
him to attend Church? Will he follow you? 
Yes, if he knows you and you have won his 
confidence and respect, and he believes you 
think he is as you are, namely, that we all need 
the Church, wherein all, both sailor and lands- 
man, may be helped. 

But believing that your mission is only a 
Church without the homelife, established for 
his sole redemption because he is such a wicked 
creature, he steers a course for the places which 
welcome him as an equal and not as some in- 
ferior outcast, even though it is to his detri- 
ment. There he is welcomed as the door 
swings open, he is greeted with warmth, he 
readily becomes acquainted, takes an interest 
in the fun, he stands the treat all around, joins 
in the dance, then becoming noisy and reckless 
he ends the night in a debauch robbed of what 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 43 

money lie possessed. Whereas if the missions 
had provided those social necessities he would 
have dispensed with so much alcoholic drinks 
and had a larger bank account. 

I have in mind as I write a young man who 
had enlisted on the U. S. S. Vermont, in the 
Brooklyn navy yard. He was a machinist and 
had traveled from some one of our Western 
Cities to enlist in Uncle Sam's employ. The 
easy life as a recruit on the cob dock became 
tedious. He grew restless. When on liberty 
there was no home to welcome him, no friends 
to receive him ; he was a total abstainer, in fact 
he knew not the taste of alcoholic drinks. He 
played pool and billiards in his native city and 
accordingly for want of such amusements he 
frequented the pool rooms where liquor was 
sold, and there spent his evenings. Fortunately 
he was strong enough to resist the temptations 
surrounding these pool tables, and was not 
led astray. , 

He was a clean, manly fellow, and I remem- 
ber his collecting money from the recruits and 
marines to purchase a pool table for the read- 
ing room, but those who had the power to grant 
us a pool table refused because certain people 



44 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

living ashore held religious services there on 
Sundays. I have known young sailor lads who 
were clean in their habits to frequent dance 
halls. At first, their only desire was to enjoy a 
dance; but that very waltz was their downfall. 
It was not the dancing which brought about 
their ruin, it was the evil associations they 
encountered in such places. 

Some of these young men had danced with 
the best young women of their town, their 
comrades and schoolmates, but now because the 
term sailor is attached to them and they have 
on the blue naval uniform they are debarred 
from every place except that of ill-repute. If 
Jack does not care to enter such a dive he 
must abide his time till he mingles with his 
own friends again though it may be for years, 
or it may never be, before he can step to a 
waltz, as no one of respectability dances with 
a sailor. The day may come when by provid- 
ing the homelif e in our missions for seamen we 
will have come to know them, our Christian 
young women will become acquainted with 
them and find that many young seamen are as 
clean and as moral as their own brothers, and 
they will dance with them as they do with 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 45 

young men of their acquaintance on land. 

It is not that the sailor enjoys places of ill- 
repute more than something better. It is sim- 
ply that is the best he finds after he leaves his 
ship. He likes the company of women; two- 
thirds of his life he is debarred from their soci- 
ety; he likes a social evening and he is bound 
to have it and all the fun he can so long as he 
is on shore. 

Knowing then that they are as other men, we 
try to make the Sailor's Haven not only a 
church but also a home for seamen. In our 
mission we hold religious services twice a week. 
At such times men are invited to attend; they 
have their choice. They can continue reading 
in the club rooms if it is Sunday, or play their 
games if it is a week night. Usually we have 
to lower some of the lights in the club rooms as 
the seamen have vacated them of their own free 
will and have attended the service. 

Just the same as though I were visiting you 
and had enjoyed my stay, and as the evening 
hour drew near you invited me to join with you 
in your religious devotions, I kneel with you, so 
will the sailor who has that same freedom in a 
sailor's mission, readily leave all games and 



46 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

everything else and accept your invitation to 
your devotional exercises. Here in the service 
as men, we try to find out and understand the 
teachings of our Blessed Lord, that we may have 
as our own the real happiness and comfort that 
comes in living the Christian life. At such 
times the seamen give strict attention and are 
never tired of hearing some one tell about Jesus. 
They and us receive help by the good advice 
given, they join in the old familiar hymns and 
are taken back to their boyhood days and the 
old home rises up before them. We visit the 
sick,comfort the sorrowful, help the needy and in 
His Name brighten and cheer lives. We provide 
special concerts full of fun and entertainment. 
Not bringing in a few hymns and short addresses 
of exhortation which leave a bitter taste, 
because of their unfitness; but a real sing song 
lively concert, just the kind we would have if 
we had company in our homes and were enter- 
taining them. At such a time we would not be so 
rude as to ask our guests, if they desired our reli- 
gious help, then why treat a sailor differently 
when he is your guest if love is the propelling 
power and good taste turns the helm? He 
will appreciate your kindness if offered in the 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 47 

right way. Of all men he is easily approached. 
He likes music. You can serve it to him in any 
shape or form and he will enjoy it every time. 
Let it be the piano, fiddle, banjo, jewsharp, tin 
whistle or a big drum and he will shout with de - 
light. His cares are forgotten when he hears the 
ladies sing, and his sorrows are brushed away 
when he drinks in the music of the male quar- 
tettes and choruses. And he himself is not sel- 
fish. Full of sea songs, he takes his place by the 
piano and renders Nancy Lee and Tom Bowline, 
and to manifest to you that he is at home, he 
turns up the bottom edges of his trouser's legs, 
and gives a step dance or a horn pipe for 
your amusement. 

We provide suppers and treats of coffee and 
buns in the same spirit we invite any friends to 
sup with us, not because they are "poor hungry 
sailors" in need of these things; but as friends 
we meet and enjoy the very essence of so- 
ciability. All formality is blown to the winds, 
good cheer and freedom prevail, we meet from 
all corners of the earth, of different nationalities 
speaking different tongues, all petty grievances 
with our own shipmates are forgiven, we meet 



48 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

on common ground, and when we part we re- 
member each other as friends. 

I am safe in saying that nine out of every ten 
seamen smoke. Shall we send them on the 
gtreet when they desire a pull on their pipes? 
We think it best to provide separate rooms for 
that. So aside from the hall where religious 
services are held we have these club rooms; 
here they can smoke, play pool and billiards and 
other games. They can take magazines and 
newspapers and read awhile. Social and scien- 
tific books are at their disposal, the same as the 
landsman reads, something besides a tract or cir- 
cular asking them where they hope to spend 
Eternity. Here they can write to their friends 
for the material is on the tables for their sole use, 
they can play a solo at the piano, sing a song and 
while away the evening. When tired of one 
amusement they can turn to another, as there 
are many diversions to satisfy their social needs. 
Good women are present to talk with them, to 
write for those who cannot, to sing and play for 
any who desire it. They are received and treat- 
ed as men without condescension or mock 
humility on the part of the missionaries, and wel- 
comed not as inferior and illiterate beings, not as 



MISSION WORK AMONG SEAMEN 49 

wild unregulated Ishmaelites nor as poor sailors, 
but as men. 

We know that some games like ours are in the 
bar rooms; but we hare taken these enjoyable 
and harmless recreations from the surroundings 
that have done so much to degrade them, and 
are using them where they may not only be 
enjoyed without danger, but are means of shield- 
ing men from temptation. Some may ask, is it 
not enough to have a reading table and writing 
material, and perhaps a checker board? I 
answer, No. Even though you allow the seamen 
to smoke they, like other men, become tired of 
reading, and after a few games of checkers 
leave to find some other amusement. 

Realizing the need of such a place for seamen 
and having a desire to work on such lines for 
their benefit, I left the sea. 

A work of any kind must be judged by its 
results. Therefore is the Sailor's Haven saving 
men ? Are the seamen living cleaner and 
purer lives because of such work ? Are they 
shielded from the land sharks and are they 
befriended ? To all this and more I answer, Yes. 

It would take many pages to tell of the men 
whose lives have been changed from reckless- 



50 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

ness and wrong-doing to lives of service and 
helpfulness to themselves and others. Men 
who are trying to live Christian lives, who once 
delighted to dabble in sin. I refrain and 
finish by saying it is right to have pool and 
billiard tables in a seaman's mission, and allow 
the men to fill that part of God's House, the 
home, with tobacco smoke. 



THE FORECASTLE 



The Forecastle 

WHEN a new schoolhouse or any pub- 
lic building is planned, every at- 
tention is given to sanitation. 
When a private home is being 
built, it is expected to be fitted with every 
modern convenience and every improvement 
conducive to good health. When a new pas- 
senger steamer is launched, the public seek for 
all comfort, where they may abide during their 
short stay on board, and if a cargo steamship is 
ordered every attention is devoted to space for 
freight and cattle. But on that very vessel, so 
distinctly modern in every other respect, there 
is seemingly hardly any thought given to im- 
proving the condition of the forecastle. 

I am glad to say that there are some masters 
of the ocean steamers who recognize room for 
improvement, and who are exerting themselves 
in the interest of their men. Lately we have 
seen large passenger steamers launched which 

53 



54 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

are provided with large mess rooms for the 
sailors and firemen, and we have one and all 
rejoiced at this gradual improvement. The laws 
of the United States and Great Britain provide 
on board their ships so much breathing space for 
each man. The law governing United States 
vessels reads thus: "Every place appropriated 
to the crew of a sea-going vessel of the United 
States, except a fishing vessel, yacht, pilot boat 
and all other vessels under two hundred tons 
register, shall have a space of not less than 
seventy-two cubic feet, and not less than twelve 
square feet measured on the deck or floor of 
that place for each seaman or apprentice lodged 
therein: Provided, That any such seagoing 
vessels built or rebuilt after June 30th, 1898, 
shall have a space of not less than one hundred 
cubic feet and not less than sixteen square feet 
measured on the deck or floor of that space for 
each seaman or apprentice lodged therein. Such 
place shall be securely constructed, heated and 
ventilated, protected from weather and sea, and, 
as far as practicable, properly shut off and 
protected from the effluvium of cargo or bilge 
water." I do not know the exact space Great 
Britain grants her seamen, but by observation I 



THE FORECASTLE 55 

should say they have about the same amount of 
space as our American seamen — that is to say, 
a space hardly as large as a good-sized grave. I 
am not now condemning the ship owners; they 
give the men what they are allowed. Nor am 
I writing in the spirit of the fault finder, but 
as one whose heart's desire is to have the men 
of the sea so treated and housed on board their 
ships that they may believe they are men, that 
they be treated as such, and may be appealed 
to live their highest and best lives. The safety 
of life and property at sea depends upon the 
competency of the crew, and if we are to have 
efficient men, and an adequate merchant marine, 
and men of intelligence and skill, we must offer 
some inducements to secure such men and not 
the riff raff of the world. 

How is this legally allotted space given to 
the sailor? In a room in the forward end of 
the ship, sometimes in the middle, known as the 
"forecastle" — a room with a dozen or more men 
in it, where at the most six men could miserably 
exist — a room (a few exceptions) poorly lighted 
and inadequately ventilated. In such a room 
the seamen smoke, eat, sleep and have their be- 
ing. It is their home on shipboard. It is too 



56 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

small for a mess table. The food is brought in 
large pans, placed on the floor, and each man 
coming from his work has to make an effort, 
climbing over the pan of soup or meat, to get 
some share of it for himself. There are a few 
forecastles in which there are mess tables on 
which these pans are placed for men to "dig and 
get at" the contents. 

As we approach some modern steamship's 
forecastles it seems strange the sanitation should 
be so different from what it is on shore. We 
all know that in bad weather at sea men are ex- 
posed on deck. They wear their oilskins and 
rubber boots; they go below after spending four 
hours on deck. They are compelled to hang up 
their wet oilskins at the head of their bunks 
or on the bulkhead of the forecastle, and throw 
their sea-boots under a bunk where they may 
find them when called again to go on deck. We 
also know that the work in the fire-room is dirty. 
Where can a fireman hang up his dirty fireroom 
clothes wet through with perspiration? There 
is no place except it be over the top of his own 
bunk. 

There was a certain steamer in port. It was 
mid-winter. I went on board the day she docked. 



THE FORECASTLE 57 

Such a dismal sight! Every man forward was 
discontented and disgruntled. The dark fore- 
castle was somewhat lighted by the coating of 
ice on the sides of the ship forming the fore- 
castle. It was raining, and, without exagger- 
ation, the sloppy mud and dirt was at least one 
half inch deep, covering the whole forecastle 
floor. There was some heat from the steam- 
pipes, which was thawing the coating of ice 
which covered the roof and sides of the place. 
One of the firemen asked me to feel of his bed. 
I did so; my heart was sore. Every article of 
clothing and his bed clothes were wet through 
from the drippings of the thawing ice. The 
water falling from the roof and sides of this 
half-heated dismal hole made it resemble a cave 
where the ebbing tide had just receded. This 
was the condition of an old cattle and freight 
steamer. 

I told one of the men about the Sailor's 
Haven and gave him an invitation to visit us. 
He looked at me and said, "To h — 1 with you 
and your mission!" Just then one ofthe mates 
rebuked him, saying, "Don't talk that way to the 
gentleman; you know he's not to blame for our 
treatment." Before I left the ship I had a long 



58 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

talk with him. He apologized for his unkind 
language, and said he felt we worried ourselves 
too much about getting them into heaven and 
not enough about bettering their surroundings 
on earth. 

That evening I was conversing with a chief 
engineer of another steamer. I told him of my 
experience on that ship. I remarked that it 
must be very hard for those men who had worked 
on deck in the cold to have to spend their 
evenings in such a miserable den. My heart 
even went out more in sympathy for the fire- 
men than for the sailors, for they had been 
doing their work down in the bowels of the ship, 
with greasy hands and arms, half choked and 
black as negroes with cold dust. They must 
bathe on deck in a wash deck bucket, and make 
the best of what was given them. 

"True enough, Mr. King," he replied, "I admit 
that things could be better, but if you knew it 
all you would agree with me when I say they 
don't deserve anything better. These men 
don't and won't appreciate anything else. Some 
steamship companies have tried their best to 
improve the surroundings of the crew, but they 
have so abused, what has been done for them 



THE FORECASTLE 59 

that they are given up by most companies as a 
hopeless lot." 

I know that many of the men going to sea 
have to learn the meaning of new conditions 
before they can value them; the failure of some 
to appreciate an improvement only shows more 
clearly the need of the improvement. Their 
very faculties for appreciating better conditions 
are nearly dead, and must be quickened and de- 
veloped. We have to face the ignorance of 
those who need our help, and gradually carry 
on our reforming movements. The clean, re- 
spectable seamen will help the untidy, careless 
fellows to appreciate what is being done for 
them, and will join hands with the ship-owners 
in making the sailor's calling desirable. A 
ship's forecastle is not a temporary place for 
some college student who is working his pas- 
sage across the Atlantic during his summer va- 
cation. It is the permanent home of the sailor. 
Therefore, if we are to have good men on our 
vessels, We must offer them comfortable quarters. 
The mechanic or laborer on land leaves his 
work at the close of the day, and goes to his 
home. There is a change, a new atmosphere 
greets him; not so with the sailor. The fore- 



60 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

castle is his home. Debarred as he is from the 
society and companionship of his own people, 
he above all men should have the greatest com- 
fort and the best of treatment when off duty. 

I could endure the f orcastle for a trip across, 
I could do the work on deck, or shovel coal in 
the fireroom, but I could not follow the sea for 
a living to-day and think that until my hair 
turns gray, and my hands tremble through age, 
I must eke out such an existence. Yes, a 
thousand times let me break the stones on the 
streets for a mere pittance, so that when my 
day's work was over, I could find a shelter of 
warmth and cleanliness, even though it were 
poor and humble. 

Now and again we find a steamer whose 
owners have given considerable thought to the 
crew. I call to mind a certain steamer which 
was in Boston not very long ago. In this 
vessel the twelve sailors had four large rooms. 
There was a good-sized mess-room near these 
quarters. Everything was neat and clean and 
manifested a spirit of cleanliness. Pictures 
of loved ones were hung up, there was a spirit 
of content prevailing on that vessel. Men 
lose all interest in keeping a place clean when 



THE FORECASTLE 61 

they are huddled together like sheep in a pen. 
The strongest and best of men are influenced 
by their surroundings. We shamefully admit 
this weakness, for we know as men we should 
be strong enough to master all our circum- 
stances, and not they us. How then can we 
expect men who are ignorant of the laws govern- 
ing their health to rise up and not be influenced 
by their circumstances? How do we expect 
our men in the engine room and on deck to be 
otherwise than they are? The hopeful sign is 
to find so many dissatisfied with their sur- 
roundings. 

Not long ago I visited the firemen on a steamer. 
It was supper time. The room was dark, even 
though the sun was shining on deck. I thought 
one of my feet was in something slippery, and, 
going to the door of the forecastle, I discovered 
I had stepped into the "black pan." This was 
a pan of food which consisted of the leavings 
of the cabin and engineers' mess-room. The 
men, seeing I was embarrassed, said: "That's all 
right, Mr. King; we have had all we want of it." 
I have lived in forecastles where the conditions 
were almost as bad as this, but that was twenty 
years ago, but even then there were not so 



62 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

many of us huddled in one room. Suppose we 
go on board some of the finest and best steamers; 
go forward and visit the forecastles. You will 
find a large, undivided space, a place where a 
dozen men may be able to move around in com- 
fort, containing from twenty to forty men. 
Their clothes are hung on lines around their 
bunks. At its best you will say: "What a 
gloomy den!" 

I have never witnessed such a miserable 
condition on board ship as I encountered in the 
forecastle of an ocean steamer one Sunday 
morning. I went on board to invite the men 
to the services at the Mission. About thirty- 
five men were in a room filled with bunks, with 
a narrow passage between them. The men 
were asleep. Just then a fireman entered with 
a large black pan and a kettle, and calling at 
the top of his voice "Hash!" he placed the 
pan and kettle on the dirty floor. The call of 
"hash" made the men roll over and think of get- 
ting up. The odor of that room was villan- 
ous. The night through, these men had smoked 
and slept, and in that same atmosphere they 
were called to eat their breakfast. One man 
tried to light his pipe as he was turning out, 



THE FORECASTLE 63 

and shouting to me said, "Mr. King, can't you 
do something for us? Look, sir, the match won't 
burn, the air is so thick in here." I did indeed 
feel sorry for him. "Were I in his place, I 
would climb on deck, be it hot or cold, and in 
God's pure air eat my meals. It is fortunate 
they have an abundance of fresh air on deck to 
help counteract the impure atmosphere of the 
forecastles. 

On some of the ships the petty officers are 
put four and six men in a room; they keep 
their quarters clean and enjoy the comfort of 
being somewhat private in their lives on ship- 
board. The interest they take in keeping neat 
and clean where four are placed in a room is 
very noticeable. All of these petty officers 
were once in the forecastle, and, having left it, 
and appreciating something better, show that 
those in the forecastle to-day are capable of 
properly receiving improvements. 

Before I close let me say what I think would 
improve the situation. First, abolish the fore- 
castle as it is built to-day in one large room; put 
in its place fair-sized rooms, each to accommodate 
at the most four men. Let these rooms be known 
as the men's quarters. Put in each room a 



64 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

clothes locker, in which clothes can be put away. 
Have these rooms sheathed, so as to protect them 
from the ice coated iron of the ship's side and 
iron deck above. Also have a good ventilator 
and a comfortable steam heater in each room. 
Have a messroom that will seat every man when 
the ship is in port, when all the crew are eating 
at the same hour. Have it put away from the 
men's quarters. Let there be a man shipped 
to be known as the forward mess steward, his 
duty at sea and in port to care for the dishes, 
knives and forks which the ship should provide; 
hold him responsible for all the utensils, having 
him turn them over to the chief steward at the 
end of the voyage. Have him keep the mess- 
room and men's quarters clean. Have a large 
bathroom and lavatory far away from the men's 
quarters and mess-room, put in it lockers for 
oilskins and sea boots — as many lockers as there 
are rooms; men in room No. 1 to use the cor- 
responding numbered locker in the bathroom. 
The forward mess steward, or two stewards, if 
needed, must keep this bath clean and sweet. 
If the ship should be built for carrying cattle, 
have the cattlemen's quarters in some part of 
the ship where they cannot interfere with the 



THE FORECASTLE 65 

regular crew. Then there will be no danger 
of oilakins and clothing hung out to dry being 
stolen by the cattlemen. 

I might write of some officers' and engineers' 
quarters, yes, and of captains also, and tell how 
miserably they are housed on some ships. On 
some of the steamers the officers and engineers 
find it a hard matter to get in and out of their 
rooms when the cattle are on board. May the 
day soon dawn when a sailor going on his ship 
will not have to think of pots, pans and spoons 
for use in a kennel, but will go expecting the 
treatment of the workingman ashore. Then 
the owners of vessels will be blessed by them 
where now they are cursed. 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 



Superstitions of 
Seamen 

ALTHOUGH the ocean steamer has re- 
moved some of the superstitious ideas 
among seamen, still to this day there 
are hosts of sailors on steamships as 
well as on sailing vessels, who are filled with 
them. It is necessary to mingle freely with sea- 
men to win from them their experiences of the 
strange apparitions they have seen and of the 
many Jonahs with whom they have been ship- 
mates. 

The landlubber has his superstitions as well 
as the sailor. Many of my strange notions 
came to me long before I started to sea. Born 
and brought up among the negroes in Barbadoes, 
rocked in a mammy's arms, one of the first 
things I remember is the story of the obeah 
man told me by the faithful colored servants of 
my father. This ubiquitous obeah man was 

69 



70 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

called on at all times by my nurse to help her 
in bringing me into a state of subjection. I 
believe such a being did exist. Often when a 
child I have listened to stories of the duppy (a 
ghost) and believing them I was afraid of the 
least noise I heard at night. Even to this day 
I find it difficult to overcome these superstitious 
ideas of my early boyhood days. 

Some time ago a friend almost induced me to 
live in Everett, Massachusetts. I had made up 
my mind to pack my traps and move out there, 
but dear me ! when I saw the trees in Woodlawn 
Cemetery through the back windows so close to 
the house, no amount of favorable reasoning 
could persuade me to live there. No wealth 
could entice me to walk alone through a grave- 
yard at night. Not that I believe the dead can 
harm me, but simply there is a feeling that 
comes over me which I cannot master. I was 
told that if I were to point my hand or 
throw a stone at a ghost, the arm would stiffen 
and remain so forever. I believed this and had 
not the pluck to throw anything in the direction 
of a rustling noise at night. Fright and anger 
forced me to overcome it. 

While serving on the U. S. S. Alliance, one 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 71 

of our shipmates died in "Rio". His body was 
taken aft on the quarter deck and placed on 
boards resting on two ward room chairs. The 
American Ensign was spread over the whole. 
It was my anchor watch from twelve o'clock 
midnight, to four in the morning. There were 
four of us on watch, one from each part of the 
ship; namely, a forecastle man, a foretopman, a 
maintopman and an afterguard. The officer 
of the deck was lenient and allowed us to sleep 
on deck providing one man remained awake 
and watched near the corpse. The forecastle- 
man, as he belonged to the forward end of the 
ship, was detailed to keep the first watch and 
we were to relieve each other hourly until our 
four hours were ended. 

Being a maintopman it was my watch from 
two to three o'clock. At four bells the foretop- 
man roused me from my slumbers where I had 
coiled myself on deck between the fife rail and 
mainmast. The officer of the deck was on the 
poop with the quartermaster; the Captain's 
orderly had gone forward; I was standing for- 
ward of the corpse in close proximity to the 
after eight inch gun. I tried to think of 
everything except my duty. The very thought 



72 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

of being alone with a dead man, though there 
were living mortals close at hand, made me feel 
uneasy. 

I had scarcely been ten minutes on watch 
when I observed the ensign covering the dead 
body move as though a cat or a dog were under 
it. A cold feeling came over me, my heart 
began to thump, I expected to see my departed 
shipmate stand up and hail me. The cold 
perspiration fell from my brow. I started to 
edge my way forward taking a backward step, 
when I saw a head peep out from under the 
flag. The handspikes belonging to the gun 
were under the gun carriage. I was tempted to 
haul one of them out and throw it at the ghost, 
but fearing my hand and arm would stiffen, I 
hesitated. Just then I heard a tittering on the 
opposite side of the deck, and looking in that 
direction I saw my watch mates and the Captain's 
orderly laughing at my expense. I realized 
that a joke had been played on me, and angered 
through fright beyond self control, I quickly 
hauled out the heavy handspike and struck at 
the would be ghost. My aim was poor. I 
struck the chair at the foot of the corpse and 
the whole thing rolled over on deck. The 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 73 

anchor watch and Captain's orderly quickly 
arranged the body on the boards and had just 
re-covered it with the flag, when the officer of 
the deck reached the break of the poop and 
inquired the cause of the disturbance. The 
forecastleman who had played the spectre, 
readily replied, "We're catching a rat, sir !" 
My arm did not stiffen and since then I have 
thrown stones where I have heard strange noises 
at night, and struck at uncertain objects in the 
dark. 

It is readily seen that, brought up in such an 
atmosphere of fetichism I credited all the 
stories of superstition any sailor cared to relate. 
I have known men relate yarns about ghosts 
in which they implicitly believed. 

While in a sailor's boarding house in 
Antwerp, some of the crew of an American 
ship which had arrived from San Francisco 
with grain, declared that the ship was haunted. 
Every man had a story to tell of his encounter- 
ing a ghost on that voyage. It was said that 
while the men were asleep this creature of 
another world would enter the forecastle and 
rub its cold hands over the faces of the men. 
It was rumored in the grog shops that the 



74 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

apparition in the form of a man would walk aft 
on a stormy night just as the bell was struck 
at the close of a watch, and relieve the wheel. 
The officer of the watch would be annoyed to 
find the ship off her course, and looking aft, 
would find the ship without an helmsman. 
This occurred so often, the men declaring a 
man clothed in oilskins had relieved them, that 
the Captain ordered his officers to be present 
and hear for themselves the disembodied soul 
repeat the course as it relieved the wheel. So 
ended the tricks of this goblin, who was afraid 
to encounter more than one man. 

There is a vast difference between the sailors 
of a wind-jammer and those of a steamer. The 
fireman and coal passers of these iron monsters 
began their sea careers as men and have not 
spent their youthful days in the forecastle. 
They hear nothing of the superstition of the 
sea, except what are told by the few remaining 
"old shell backs." 

I have sailed with a Captain who would dare 
do anything, but had not the courage to sail on 
Friday. No favorable weather could induce 
him to start his mudhook on this day. He told 
the story of losing his first command; how he 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 75 

sailed on that unlucky day from London to the 
Colonies and on the following Sunday his ship 
was run into and sank in the English Channel. 
This day on which "Our Saviour" was crucified 
has lost its horror among the majority of the 
English speaking seamen. The steamer is the 
cause of the change. There is no time lost in 
loading and discharging these iron hulks. As 
soon as their hatches are filled, be it Friday or 
any other day, they stir a lather under their 
sterns and speed away for another port. There 
is an old Captain on our coast who told me 
that he uses every device and frames all excuses, 
to avoid sailing on Friday. Now and again we 
meet a few old salts who still cling to the belief 
in the ill luck that comes from sailing on this 
unlucky day, but to most seamen the idea is too 
absurd to be entertained. Still among the 
Italian and other Southern European sailing 
vessels, it is yet held in superstitious fear. 
Once while in the harbor of Montevideo, I wit- 
nessed a carnival held on board a Spanish gun- 
boat, the Infanta Isabel, on Good Friday. 
The yards were cockbilled and at dinner the 
crew hauled an effigy of Judas out to the end 
of the jib-boom and hanging it just clear of the 



76 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

water, they subjected it to every abuse their 
imaginations could invent. Even the officers 
stood on the forecastle head and riddled it with 
shot from their revolvers. The effigy remained 
there till dark; finally besmeared with tar and 
oil, they set it alight and let it blaze away. 
With all discipline relaxed they ended the day 
with a lively fandango. 

Another form of superstition is that of catch- 
ing birds at sea. I have sailed with a Captain 
who allowed no one on his ship to meddle with 
birds of any kind even though they were from 
terra firma blown from their native soil and 
were resting on his vessel. He had a horror 
of some evil attending his voyage if any 
feathered creature was caught or disturbed 
while perched upon his craft. 

Another captain, though not quite so strict, 
forbade our catching the albatross. We were in 
Southern Latitudes, where they were plentiful 
and seemingly hungry. One of our crew, a 
South African half breed, secretly hooked a 
large one. He took the bird under the forecastle 
head, wrung its neck, plucked it, and disposing 
of the feathers so that no one aft could see 
them, with hard tack, salt and pepper, dressed 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 77 

it for cooking. That night as soon as he knew 
the old colored cook was soundly sleeping, he 
quietly slipped into the galley and baked it. It 
being cold, the cook kept his fire all night to 
warm his room which opened into his kitchen. 
It was fortunate the wind was dead aft, for the 
man on the forecastle head, standing his lookout, 
declared the sweet smelling savor emanating from 
the oven gave him a gnawing at the bottom of his 
stomach. At eight bells when the watch went 
below, they rallied around the feast; but to 
their disappointment and surprise, the albatross 
proved an unpleasant diet. The flesh was 
rancid and fishy. It rather pleased the Peru- 
vian Spaniard, however, for clothed in his 
oilskins and seated on the forecastle deck he 
hauled the pan between his legs and without 
stirring, devoured the whole bird. Next day 
it began to blow harder, the old ship rocked 
and rolled, we lost several watches furling and 
reefing sail, and the blame of all the bad 
weather was heaped upon Joe for killing the 
albatross. No one aft ever knew about it. For- 
tunately for Joe they did not, or he would 
have been half murdered. 

Another superstition is about the disobedient 



78 A BUNCH GP ROPE YARNS 

prophet Jonah. No sooner does the head wind 
greet the wind-jammer, than there is a Jonah 
declared on board. If many misfortunes over- 
take a ship it is felt by all, both forward and 
aft, that some one who has inherited the 
prophet's ill luck, is among the ship's company. 
I once saw a captain strike a seaman and in 
the vilest language call him a "d — Jonah," be- 
cause the wind hauled ahead as soon as he, 
poor fellow, took the wheel. During his next 
watch below he was made to stand on the for- 
ward house and scratch the foremast till he 
brought a fair wind. Good luck was on his 
side, for the wind soon hauled aft again and 
remained steady for some days. He was no 
longer declared the Jonah. 

A sailor once told me that while making a 
trip to the West Indies from New York, the 
second mate of his vessel rushed on deck in 
the night, and running forward, pointed to lee- 
ward shouting, "She's calling for me, I must 
go to her." They had to struggle severely 
to hold him from jumping over the side. He 
declared he saw his wife on the ocean calling to 
him for help. He quieted down, but his vision 
troubled him. He remembered the date and 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 79 

hour he had seen the apparition, and when the 
ship arrived in Trinidad, he received word from 
New York of the death of his wife. She had 
passed away the very day and hour he heard her 
calling to him. Is this superstition? Every 
sailor to whom he told this story, implicitly 
believed it was the spirit of his dead wife calling 
to him. 

I had a friend, an old sea captain, who is 
now dead, having lost his life by being washed 
overboard in a heavy gale. Often he related 
this story in my hearing: 

"I was on a Norwegian bark coming around 
the Horn, bound to Liverpool from 'Frisco. 
One night the old bark was hove to. The look- 
out man had to stand his watch on the after 
house, where he was safe from being washed 
overboard. About three o'clock in the middle 
watch the lookout reported to the mate that a 
woman was coming over the bow. Sure enough. 
There stood a woman in white by the lee cat 
head, waving something in her hand as though 
she were calling them. Every time the ship 
courtesied and dipped, the woman waved the 
thing in her hand violently. We managed to get 
the watch on deck at eight bells, but not a man 



80 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

would dare go forward of the poop. When day- 
light came the woman disappeared. For two days 
the crew kept aft in fear declaring the ship was 
haunted, but on the third day when the gale had 
weakened and the sea subsided, a man was sent 
to loose the jib. While on the jib-boom he dis- 
covered from whence the creation came. 

Our old vessel had a splendid figure head. 
It was a woman painted white, holding a wand 
in her hand. The heavy seas broke it away from 
its fastenings and jammed it erect between the 
jib-boom guys while the pitching of the vessel 
made the wand seem as though someone was 
beckoning. It was a difficult matter even then 
for the old skipper to make some of his men 
believe the apparition they saw was the figure 
head jammed between the guys. 

It is a known fact that men have refused to 
sail in ships because the rats were leaving. When 
a youngster, suffering privation in New York 
City, I saw four apprentices and the steward 
desert from an English full rigger because they 
claimed the ship would be lost at sea, for the 
rats were jumping into the river they were so 
anxious to leave the vessel. I do not know if 
she reached another port but I know that I felt 



SUPERSTITIONS OF SEAMEN 81 

grateful to the rats. One of the boys having 
more clothes than he cared to carry, gave me an 
old coat which was a God-send to me at that 
time. I needed it badly. 

There are many other superstitions of which 
I could write. Every sailor has at some time 
whistled for a breeze. Most of us have objected 
to having a parson on board, believing he would 
prove a Jonah. We have seen sharks persistent- 
ly follow the ship when there has been a dead 
body on board in anticipation of a great feast. 
Are you superstitious, dear reader? Then 
know that your great-great-grandfather or some 
other relative was an old salt. 



THE LUCKY BAG 



The Lucky Bag 

IT always seemed to me that the lucky bag 
on a man-of-war was wrongly named. To 
the few it was a lucky bag, but to the 
large majority of seamen it was the un- 
lucky bag. 

What is the lucky bag? It is the place where 
the young recruit is taught that there is a place 
for everything, and everything must be in its 
place at certain times. 

"While serving on the U. S. S. Alliance, we 
shipped a landsman in Cape Town. He had 
passed the doctor's examination and was served 
with an outfit of clothing from the paymaster's 
stores. He was a strong young fellow, clean 
and neat in appearance, but his one great trouble 
was his carelessness in leaving his clothes, ditty 
box and other things around the decks when 
they should have been put in their proper 
places. 

The very next day after his enlistment he 

85 



86 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

went below on the berth deck after the forenoon's 
exereises, to find his clothes bag. He searched 
and overhauled all the bags hanging on the jack- 
stay near the mess chest belonging to his part 
of the ship, but could not find a bag with his 
number on it. The cook was a short, wiry 
cockney, who had just come below from infantry 
drill on the spar deck. He had not much time 
to waste, as in an hour all hands would be piped 
to dinner, and he must hasten and put his po- 
tatoes in the ship's cook's coppers and be ready to 
draw his boiling water when the ship's cook 
shouted, "Get your coffee water." He also had 
two coal passers who were going on watch at 
twelve o'clock. At seven bells (11.30) they 
would be making their appearanoe for dinner so 
that they could relieve their mates below, on 
time. 

We all knew the necessary hustling it took 
for the mess cook to get our dinners ready. 
Therefore, we who wanted our bags, took them 
quickly from the jackstay on the side of the 
ship and moved out of the cook's way. It was 
not thus with our Cape Town "joskin." Not 
realizing that he was in the cook's way, he kept 
on tossing the bags over in search of his own. 



THE LUCKY BAG 87 

The cook was impatient, so taking the greenhorn 
by the shoulders, he twisted him around, almost 
pushed him down the fore hatch on the head of 
old Bill Ried, the captain of the hold, and 
vehemently said, "Blast your blooming eyes. 
D'ye think I can get the grub ready with you a 
flying around 'ere like a feather in a gale of 
wind? Get to blazes out of my way." 

Anderson resented this treatment. He had 
been patient up to this point, for from the 
moment he donned the naval uniform and came 
on deck, the young apprentice boys began to 
tease and make a fool of him. They told him 
he would have to purchase clothes pins to use 
on the clothes line ; they sent him from one to 
the other in search of many things that did not 
exist on a ship, making him believe that he was 
in duty bound to obey them. He believed 
their yarn when they told him the sergeant of 
marines was buried in the fore peak, and had 
him go with a lantern to polish the brass cor- 
ners of the tomb. The poor fellow's mind was 
so upset he doubted everyone, and even hesita- 
ted to obey the orders of the officer of the deck, 
believing he too was a "fake." 

He could stand it no longer, so when the 



88 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

"Duke of Edinburgh" (the nickname given 
to the cook) took hold of him he showed fight. 
Putting himself in a defensive attitude, he 
clinched with the duke. Pots, pans and kettles 
were tumbled about without any consideration 
on their part, the crowd gathered to see the fun, 
the noise and uproar reached the spar deck and 
in a flash the master-at-arms and ship's corporal 
came tumbling double time down the fore hatch 
ladder, and, pushing the crowd aside, they sepa- 
rated the combatants and marched them to the 
mast. Anderson, now nicknamed Cape Town, 
told his story to the officer of the deck and then 
the duke related his. Here it was that Cape 
Town learned from the ship's corporal that his 
clothes were in the lucky bag. 

Both men were put on the report and the 
next morning when the delinquents Were 
brought before the commanding officer, he pun- 
ished the duke by placing him on third class 
conduct list, which deprived him of liberty while 
in that port. Cape Town he sentenced to do 
four hours extra police duty for having his 
clothes in the lucky bag. 

The nearest resemblance to a lucky bag on a 
man-of-war, is a small, second hand clothing 



THE LUCKY BAG 89 

shop on Salem St. Although named the lucky- 
bag, it is not generally a bag. I have seen at 
times when there were only a few things con- 
fiscated around the decks, a well filled bag in 
the master-at-arms possession, but usually the 
lucky bag is a place, a locker of some description 
where confiscated clothing and all such articles 
are kept. 

On board of a merchant vessel it matters not 
how long a sailor desires to keep his clothes 
on deck, no one cares where he puts them or 
what is done with them, so long as they are 
forward and below the rail of the ship, but on 
a war ship it is different. A man-of-war's man 
owns a clothes bag in which he keeps his cloth- 
ing, a hammock containing his mattress and 
bedding, his ditty box for his sewing gear, and 
pipe and tobacco. He may earn a few dollars 
by making clothes, hence the ownership of a 
small sewing machine. He may possess a set 
of boxing gloves, swinging clubs, a musical in- 
strument, or curiosities that he has bought for 
his sweetheart or for his friends, and while there 
is a certain time given him each day when he 
can bring his belongings on deck, and overhaul 
everything he owns to his satisfaction and to the 



90 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

delight of his shipmates, there are other times 
when everything he possesses must be stowed 
away, otherwise it will reach the ever open, 
avaricious jaws of the lucky bag. 

In the morning before breakfast the decks 
have been cleaned. Perhaps there is still time 
to polish the deck brass work before eight bells, 
when breakfast will be piped, but even then the 
man-of-war's man cannot put his bag away, for 
there is other work to be done before he can 
clean himself for quarters. The gun bright 
(brass) work has to be polished, for every man of 
a gun's crew has a portion of the brass and steel 
allotted him for his special care. 

Therefore, after breakfast he must hurry and 
clean his gun bright work, change his clothes, 
get his blacking and brush from his ditty box 
and shine his shoes, for the messenger boy will 
soon strike two bells (nine o'clock,) and the 
boatswain's mates will be ordered to pipe 
sweepers. Then as birds in a forest, the whistles 
of the boatswain's mates are heard chirping from 
stem to stern, calling the sweepers to man their 
brooms and give the "old gal" a final brush 
down. Woe to the man who has forgotten to 
stow away his traps, whatever they may be, for 



THE LUCKY BAG 91 

in a little while before three bells, the executive 
officer emerges from the ward room, and, follow- 
ed by the masters-at-arms and ship's corporal, 
he inspects the whole ship. 

Starting from the ward room to the spar deck, 
then to the berth deck, he will pry into every 
corner and over-haul everything. The breech 
blocks of the guns are thrown open, the tompions 
are withdrawn, he peeps from breech to muzzle 
to make sure no oily rags have been stowed 
therein and that the gun is clean inside. 

The berth deck cooks are standing by their 
mess chests ready with clean mess cloths and 
utensils for his all seeing eyes to peep into and 
inspect. The captain of the hold has thrown 
aside his dirty working suit and dressed in the 
uniform of the day, he stands in the hatchway 
with lantern in hand, to receive him. The 
sailmaker's mate, the gunner's mate, and every 
idler who has the care of any shell room or 
locker, is at his post to greet him as he progres- 
ses in his onward march of inspection. Every 
clothes bag, piece of clothing, ditty box, musical 
instrument, anything that is out of place is con- 
fiscated by his orders. 

It was at this particular time that Cape Town 



92 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

had forgotten to put his bag below and when 
the "first luff" spotted it under the forecastle 
head, he ordered it to be put into the lucky bag. 
This was not the onlj time that the jaws of the 
lucky bag had closed on Cape Town's belong- 
ings, for on several occasions during the cruise 
he had to scrub the copper on the bottom of the 
sailing launch while others were loitering 
around the decks, as a punishment for haying 
his traps enter there. 

Not only during the executive officer's in- 
spection, is the lucky bag fed. It may be in 
the afternoon when all hands are called 
by the boatswain's mates to "stand by your 
scrubbed and washed clothes." At such a call 
every man who has clothes on the lines is 
expected to get on deck and remove them. 
Should some fellow who doesn't heed the call 
allow his clothes to remain on the lines, the 
officer of the deck will order them put into the 
lucky bag unless some shipmate is kind enough 
to care for them, which is often the case. 

Such confiscated clothing is occasionally kept 
in the "brig" (a cell for punishment) and if 
there is not an over abundance, such articles 
may be allowed to remain there even though a 



THE LUCKY BAG 93 

prisoner is doing a short sentence of five days 
bread and water. 

While there is an order on a war vessel that 
every man shall have his name stamped on his 
clothes, there are men who evade it and do not 
mark everything. Sometimes the paint which 
was used in stamping the name is so worn by 
washing that it is illegible. Therefore, if such 
a piece of clothing finds its way to the lucky 
bag the owner will let it stay there, for he 
knows that if he claims it he will have to do 
some extra police duties or be classed. His 
best plan is to await his time. Some fellow 
may soon be sentenced to the brig, among the 
contents of the lucky bag, and may clandestinely 
secure it for him. At any rate he can look 
forward to the day when the auction sale of the 
lucky bag takes place and then buy his own 
clothes. 

I remember having a blue flannel shirt made. 
It was valuable, for the sailor who made it had 
put on fancy silk stars on the collar, the tape 
was neatly stitched, the best of silk had been 
used. Just before inspection the tailor handed 
it to me. I had not time to go below and shove 
it into the mouth of my clothes bag, so I lifted 



94 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

the flap of the hammock cloth and pushed it be- 
tween the cloth and the ship's side. The bulge 
it made in the hammock cloth caught the "first 
luff's" eyes; he put his hand under the painted 
canvass and hauled out my Sunday mustering 
shirt. Fresh from the tailor's hands, it found 
its way to the lucky bag. There was no name 
on it to tell who was the owner, and as I had 
many extra hours of police duty to do for other 
misdemeanors, I held my peace and let the "go 
shore" shirt remain confiscated. 

Good luck came my way sooner than I had 
hoped. The captain of the after guard was 
sentenced the next day to do five days bread 
and water in the brig for being insolent to the 
officer of the deck. The contents of the lucky 
bag were pushed into one corner of the cell 
while the prisoner had the remaining portion of 
the iron brig to himself. 

Here was my opportunity. I sneaked on the 
opposite side of the sentry and placed my mouth 
close to the small perforated holes in the iron 
walls of the brig and begged my incarcerated 
shipmate to overhaul the lucky bag and find my 
shirt. Although it was dark he managed to find 
the garment, so at seven bells the next morn- 



THE LUCKY BAG 95 

ing, when he was brought on deck to have a bath, 
he tucked it under the folds of his shirt and left 
it on the forecastle head where I secured it. 

About once in every two or three months the 
master at arms is ordered to bring the contents 
of the lucky bag on deck. Standing in the port 
gangway he holds up the various articles to the 
view of the crowd* around him and asks for bids. 

It was prearranged before the sales on our 
ship, that if any man shouted distinctly the 
words, "I will offer" in making his bid we were 
not to bid against him, for we knew that "I 
will offer," meant it was the bidder's own 
things. In this way we bought and rebought 
our own clothes during the cruise rather than 
be punished for our negligence. 

Sometimes the clothing was marked, when 
the owner was reported, and would find no 
escape from cleaning the bottom of the sailing 
launch. Again, he might be on friendly terms 
with the master-at-arms or ship's corporal, and 
in a begging attitude have him give them up 
without being reported, or he might approach 
the officer of the deck and be diplomatic in 
framing an excuse so as to win his favor and 
have the lucky bag give up its treasure. 



THE SAILOR AND HIS DUDHEEN 



The Sailor and His 
Dudheen 

IT is possible to find a sailor who does not 
smoke or chew tobacco; but he is a rare 
creature. The great majority of seamen 
enjoy their pipes and some chew the weed 
as well, finding much comfort and consolation 
thereby. 

A very large number of friends have asked 
why do sailors smoke so much? It is not an 
unusual occurrence to see some of the seamen 
leave our concert hall while there is an excel- 
lent entertainment taking place, for the sole 
purpose of having a few draws on their old 
dudheens. Generally they are firemen and 
coal passers of the merchant steamers. These 
men have more opportunities than the deck 
hands to smoke. Usually they are on watch four 
hours of every twelve, and off or on duty they 
are allowed to smoke their pipes. There may 

iLoFC. 99 



100 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

be an exceptional ship where the engineer of 
the watch will prohibit a fireman or coal passer 
from smoking while on duty, but such discipline 
in the fireroom of an ocean steamship is seldom 
seen. 

Naturally these men feel the need of a smoke 
after the duration of an hour. They long for a 
whiff of the pipe, and therefore leave their 
seats during a good concert to obtain it. 

I do not think that seamen smoke oftener 
nor use more tobacco than any other class of 
men. When a sailor has donned his "go shore" 
clothes and is ready to take a spin on the beach 
the chief thing he sees to, is that his pipe and to- 
bacco are in his jacket pocket, and when away 
from the restraint of ship life, he smokes to his 
heart's content. Perhaps during the day when 
other men have had the privilege of enjoying 
several cigars and as many pipefulls as they 
desired, poor Jack has had only a few draws 
during the meal hours, so when his day's work 
is over he makes up for lost time. 

Take the amount of tobacco used by a ship's 
crew and compare it with the amount used by 
the same number of landsmen and I think we 
will find the lesser weight to be credited to the 



A SAILOR AND HIS DUDHEEN 101 

"shell back." So with drinking. The sailor 
uses less alcohol than the man ashore; not being 
accustomed to drinking, a very few glasses 
makes him totter and shake, and soon throws 
him on his beam's end, while his brother, the 
landlubber, has been pouring it down his throat 
all day, and is able at the close of the night to 
meander his way home safely. 

On a sailing ship it would be considered a 
breach of discipline for a man to be seen smok- 
ing his pipe while on duty. He is expected to 
refrain from such tendencies which help to 
weaken ship discipline, and abide his time till 
eight bells have been struck and he is relieved. 
Then before he closes his weary eyelids for a 
few hours' nap, he can have the pleasure of a 
draw on his old dudheen. 

I recall a voyage on an American full rigger 
where the question of smoking tobacco was the 
cause of much disturbance to the crew. During 
the watch below a sailor was not allowed to 
come on deck with his pipe in his mouth. He 
must confine his incense to the denizens of the 
forecastle. On Sundays, when the decks had 
been washed and the brass work cleaned, he 
could chew and spit over the rail; but the priv- 



102 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

ilege of smoking at such a time or on watch 
during the night was an offense which meant 
the loss of an afternoon below. 

On some ships there are times when the boat- 
swains are not severe and cruel, then a sailor 
may slip into the forecastle and steal a few 
draws from his pipe. Especially if the man has 
come from the wheel where he has been grind- 
ing salt water for two hours, doing his best to 
keep the ship on her course, lest the officer of 
the watch find her wake is crooked and greets 
him with an oath or blow, or from the lookout 
where he has spent his watch in strange medi- 
tations. 

The merchant sailor can smoke his pipe only 
during his watch below at sea, and in the meal 
hours and the evenings when in port. I have 
heard that on some English vessels and Ameri- 
can coasters, the crews are allowed to smoke at 
all times, even at the wheel; but I have never 
sailed in such homes. In the United States 
Navy there is such a thing as a "smoking lamp," 
and when it is lighted every man can fill his 
pipe and smoke on any part of the spar deck 
forward of the mainmast. This smoking lamp 
is made of copper. Holes, about an inch in 



A SAILOR AND HIS DUDHEEN 103 

circumference, are bored through the sides so 
that a piece of paper can be inserted so as to 
reach the flickering flame. The lamp is hung 
in some convenient place, usually near the fore- 
mast, and during meal hours and the evenings 
in port, till nine o'clock (2 bells) it is kept 
lighted. At sea, in the dog watches and meal 
hours it is hung up for use. There are times 
on a war vessel when the smoking lamp is kept 
lighted the greater part of the day. Saturday 
afternoons, when the work of the week is ended 
and the men are overhauling their bags; Sun- 
day after the morning inspection is over, and on 
holidays. Then the man-of-war's man can smoke 
without fear of some officer or marine on duty 
inviting him to the mast for punishment. 

Again it may be a day when all hands are 
busily engaged coaling ship or taking aboard 
provisions, something that keeps the whole 
crew busy, such a time the seamen feel they 
have sufficient reason to ask permission for the 
smoking lamp to be lighted. 

Most seafaring men enjoy a smoke the last 
thing at night. It is a comfort to stretch oneself 
in a hammock and just before dozing into that 
unconscious state between wakefulness and sleep 



104 A BUNCH OP ROPE YARNS 

to withdraw the pipe from the lips and place it 
under the pillow, then roll over and slumber 
away. 

During a cruise on an American war vessel, 
we came to anchor in the harbor of Pernambuco. 
Several of the crew slept under the top gallant 
forecastle where there was room for about fifty 
men. I managed to find a vacant billet away 
from the suffocating berth deck. That very 
night after taps had been sounded I turned into 
my hammock for a few hours' solid comfort. 
My pipe was lighted so I decided to continue 
my smoke. I stretched myself out, and pulled 
away at my old clay stump, keeping one eye on 
the corporal of Marines at the gangway. I fell 
asleep while smoking, for in a few moments I 
felt a burning pain at my side which awakened 
me, and, on rolling over, I saw my blankets 
burning. In a moment I was on deck, and in 
the twinkling of an eye I had the hammock 
unhooked and "Presto change" the whole thing, 
bedding and all went through the gun port. 
I was none too soon for the officer of the deck 
and the anchor watch came running forward 
looking for the fire. They had smelt the smoke 
and were seeking the cause, I hid myself in the 



! A SAILOR AND HIS DUDHEEN 105 

manger under the heel of the bowsprit and 
listened to them as they discussed the where- 
abouts of the fire. My heart almost failed me 
when the oflficer of the deck noticed the burning 
hammock over the side. The tide was taking 
it astern and as there was an English ocean 
"tramp" a short distance ahead of us, he decided 
that the smell of smoke came from that bundle 
of old rags drifting by us from the steamer. 

For five nights I slept on the bare deck planks 
and on the sixth evening I reported my hammock 
missing. A search was made and when it could 
not be found the first lieutenant said I must 
have thrown it over the rail that morning in 
tossing it into the netting before the hammock 
stower was there. I was glad to escape so easily 
for had I been detected having smoked my 
pipe in bed, I would have suffered the penalty 
of a court martial. As it was, I only lost my 
mattress and bed clothes, which were worth 
about ten dollars. It would be easy to write a 
few more pages of the many stolen smokes I and 
others have enjoyed, yes, and of the many hours 
we have scrubbed the copper on the water line 
of the ship as a punishment for smoking without 
permission; but I will leave it untouched. 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 



Pets Aboard Ship 

CATS, dogs and all other animals, when 
they find their way on board of a ship 
seem to know that nothing but kind- 
ness will be their lot. Sailors are 
fond of pets and when opportunities are afforded 
them to own some sort of an animal, they 
lavishly bestow upon them pent-up affections, 
which accumulate by being isolated from their 
loved ones. 

There are many stories about the wonderful 
power possessed by seamen in taming the wild 
creatures that have been under their care. 

I was once a stowaway on a brig which car- 
ried as part of her freight, a deck load of mules. 
It was my duty to wash their faces every morn- 
ing and assist in feeding them. The first few 
days they were so vicious that it was impossible 
to pass in front of some of them. Before we 
reached port the evil spirits left them and they 
were as affectionate as children. At first a few 



109 



110 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

slaps on the face were necessary to conquer 
some of them, but with kindness they were 
tamed. When the day came to hoist them over 
the side into the lighter, the sailors had some 
kind parting word for each mule; especially 
for the one whose stall was nearest the fore- 
castle door. He had won a place in the hearts 
of all forward; he had every opportunity to 
become acquainted, as there was never a meal 
eaten but he was allowed a portion. From his 
stall he could put his head inside the forecastle 
and feed from the men's pans. Though they 
were all gently hoisted and given a chance to 
kick their legs while in mid air, poor "Dick" 
received the greatest attention. Just before 
the lighter shoved off, a sailor climbed over the 
side, and putting his arms around old Dick's 
head, gave him a parting kiss. 

I have never owned a cat but have been 
shipmates with several. When I was an 
ordinary seaman on the Ragarstown, the day 
we left port, a black cat belonging to the tow 
boat jumped aboard. She was curious and 
drifted into the steward's store room where she 
became a prisoner. That evening her mewing 
attracted the steward's attention, and she was 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 111 

released and allowed to wander around the 
decks. There was an unhappy look upon her 
face, and it was several days before she attemp- 
ted to be friendly. Gradually the steward 
won her confidence and she lapped her milk 
quite contently. In about two weeks four little 
kittens were born, all black like the mother 
except one, which had a few white spots. 
When we arrived in port all hands left for their 
homes and boarding houses. The watchman 
and I were the only occupants of the ship. 
There was very little nourishment for the 
kittens so we gave them away. The mother 
remained a few days and then disappeared. 

I have seen men fondle cats and care for 
them as tenderly as a mother would her babe. 
I was once shipmates with a colored cook who 
had a family of cats. They slept in his bunk, 
and in cold weather they enjoyed the warmth 
of his galley fire. One of his pets seemed to 
care for the companionship of the forecastle, 
which aroused his jealousy. At last he shut his 
galley doors against this turtle shell pet of the 
men. She did not mind this treatment; she 
shared her affections with all forward; though 
her relatives fed more sumptuously, she had 



112 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

sixteen bunks at her disposal. Every man's 
bed was her property. 

I have seen a man of war's man take a little 
Maltese kitten from the street outside the Bos- 
ton Navy Yard gate, covered with mange and 
sores, and nestle it in the folds of his blue shirt 
while he conveyed it aboard the Wabash. Here 
it found a home. Poor little puss was fed and 
doctored, and in a short while she was the pet of 
the ship. She lived to be the mother of a large 
family. I recall her looks as she rubbed her 
fur against my trousers when I lifted the box 
containing her little ones on to the sill of a gun 
port, so that they would be clear of the water 
when we washed decks. 

It was the duty of one man to care for the 
float which was used as a landing at the wharf 
off which the Wabash was moored. Almost 
every cat in the Navy Yard was acquainted 
with him. In this sailor's makeup there was an 
abundant supply of love for cats. In his bunk 
in the small shanty on the float, a whole family 
of cats could be found at any time. Unmo- 
lested, they did as they pleased. 

I have a fondness for monkeys and whenever 
an opportunity was given me to own one I took 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 113 

advantage of it. Of all pets, they afforded me 
the most pleasure. Once during a calm in the 
Straits of Sunda the natives of Java visited us. 
In their canoes there were lots of yams, sweet 
potatoes and monkeys. Having no money we 
exchanged our clothing for pets. I gave a flan- 
nel shirt for a small macaque. My jinny was 
very affectionate. In my watch below she cud- 
dled herself in my arms and slept. Sometimes 
I would have just fallen asleep when she would 
take hold of my eye lids and try to open them. 
It was fun to see her catch the water bugs and 
eat them. The hair on her head formed a beau- 
tiful crest, which she enjoyed having combed. 
During the dog watches we romped and played 
like children. 

One evening I came from the wheel at eight 
o'clock. Before turning in I looked for my 
jinny. No where could I find her. At last I 
heard her scream on the top of the forward 
house. I hastened up there and between the 
boats under the mainstay, I found my pet under 
an empty beef barrel with a booby. The ship's 
cook had caught the bird and had put it and 
jinny under the barrel. The dear little monkey 
was insane with fright. I could do nothing 



114 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

with her. Her reason was entirely gone, so I 
secured some lumps of coal and tied them in a 
bit of old canvas and sank my pet in the deep. 
I would have liked to treat the cook in the same 
manner but being too small to grapple with him, 
I held my peace. 

This cowardly poltroon, the ship's cook, 
was a brutal fellow. He owned several monkeys 
and in trying to make them perform tricks he 
murdered them. His last monkey was rescued 
from drowning. One day this savage cook was 
angry with his little jacko because he did not 
come to him when called. He struck the 
frightened monkey over the head with a potato 
masher and cast him overboard. The captain, 
standing on the poop deck, saw the monkey was 
still alive and threw the coil of the spanker 
sheet to him. We were sailing slowly and poor 
jacko had just strength enough to hold on while 
the skipper lifted him on board. The medicine 
chest was opened, his bruises stitched and 
cared for, and be became the protege of the 
quarter deck. Often while standing a trick at 
the wheel I watched the little fellow bask in the 
sun. The bandages around his head made him 
resemble some old men I have seen in hospitals. 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 115 

Another time I was on a vessel loading fustic 
in Maracaibo, for Boston. Our captain was 
fond of pets of any kind, so he granted us a 
few dollars to buy monkeys and parrots. Our 
ship was a floating menagerie. There were 
seven monkeys and nine parrots. Among this 
lot was a large spider monkey. The naturalist 
has correctly named this horrid creature. He 
was a black object whose body was about the 
size of a full grown cat, having long arms and 
a tail much longer than his body. He was a 
hideous creature. Unlike the other monkeys, 
he could not stand captivity. While the others 
became accustomed to their new surroundings 
and remained on deck, his only delight was to 
be in the rigging. Shortly after leaving Mara- 
caibo, skin disease was visible through his harsh, 
black fur, which made him extremely miserable. 
Far different were the weeper monkeys. These 
mischievous fellows afforded us much pleasure. 

Forward of the forecastle there was a coop of 
hens. Before they were killed for the cabin 
use they were devoid of feathers, for the monkeys 
delighted to put their paws into the coop and 
pluck the feathers. When we reached the 
American coast, our pets, both monkeys and 



116 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

parrots, suffered from the cold weather. They 
contracted colds in the head and severe coughs, 
insomuch that we were forced to sell them to 
the cook for a mere trifle, for he could furnish 
them with the warmth of his galley. 

We were wind bound in Vineyard Sound for 
several days. About three o'clock one early 
morning we were called to man the boat and go 
in search of a doctor as one of the crew was 
taken ill. By the time we were through with 
the doctor and had returned to the ship after 
putting him ashore, it was drawing close to day- 
light. We were allowed to sleep in till break- 
fast, so I thought I would have another nap. 
As I got into my bunk I rolled on a dead mon- 
key and a parrot; each one of us had the same 
experience. The cook had played a joke on us. 
When he was called at four o'clock he found 
every one of his pets dead. Not only the mon- 
keys and parrots, but a cat and her three kittens. 
They had all been suffocated by the coal gas of 
the galley stove. 

During a cruise on a war vessel we called in 
at several ports in Madagascar. Before we 
finally left the island we had a large supply of 
what the sailors called Madagascar cats. These 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 117 

Lemuroids (half monkey and half cat) took 
possession of the ship. Their arboreal lives 
made them discontented with the flat surface 
of the deck, but once they were allowed to 
climb the rigging, they seemed satisfied with 
their new surroundings. The majority of these 
pets slept during the day, but in the evening, 
as the sun neared the western horizon they 
were wide awake and full of animation. The 
boatswain's mate in the starboard gangway 
owned a most peculiar gray Lemur. During the 
day he remained cuddled up in some corner, 
his head and face covered with his tail; but as 
soon as he felt the cool of the evening 
approaching, he would jump in the rigging and 
watch for a chance to spring on some man's 
head. His soft, prominent eyes had a pleasing 
expression and he would close them when his 
fur was stroked, manifesting pleasure in being 
caressed. He had a large, round head, set close 
on his shoulders, short fore limbs and long 
hind ones. His tail was bushy and his slender 
body was covered with a thick gray coat of 
fur which was like plush to the touch, and he 
was fed on bread soaked in condensed milk. 
As soon as we sailed into Southern latitudes 



118 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

our Madagascar cats succumbed to the cold. 

In Bahia one of the ward room officers 
bought two yellow puppies, which lived for- 
ward, and one of the men was paid a small sum 
to care for them. The carpenter's mate 
had two marmosets, and as soon as the yellow 
dogs came aboard, they pounced upon their 
backs, showing a fondness for horse back riding. 
At first the canines disliked this treatment and 
tried every device to dismount their riders. 
The only relief they found from the marmosets 
was to crawl under the bottom step of the fore- 
castle head ladder, and scrape them off their 
backs. Later on, one of the marmosets was 
taken sick and died and the other became more 
affectionate and less distrustful. One morning 
we were surprised to hear the boatswain's mates 
call us to "stand by our hammocks." We all 
wondered what this could mean, but in a few 
moments the word was passed for us to take 
them below, unlash them and see if the marmo" 
set was in some man's bed. 

The carpenter's mate had missed his pet; he 
searched every place for him and at last it oc- 
curred to him that "Tippy" must have been 
lashed in some bed as he usually slept at the 



PETS ABOARD SHIP 119 

head of a hammock. Sure enough. The little 
marmoset was discovered under the blankets in 
a hammock, where he had been smothered. Poor 
little fellow. We all mourned our loss. 

The yellow puppies grew to be large dogs. 
Just as soon as a boat was called away they 
were at the gangway ready to visit the shore. 
Without a guide they roamed the streets of 
strange cities, and when tired of that, like old 
salts they made for the boat landing and came 
aboard. They were two wise creatures, for 
when ashore they knew the men of their ship 
among a crowd of other sailors, and kept in 
company with the ones who were under the 
influence of strong drink, protecting them from 
being robbed. 

One afternoon it was blowing a stiff pampero 
in Montevideo Bay. The steam launch left the 
ship to make a safe mooring alongside of a wharf, 
and as the two dogs wanted to go ashore, they 
jumped overboard in hope of overtaking her. 
The short, choppy seas soon exhausted their 
strength and both were drowned. 

On another vessel we had a goat. She was 
kept tied on the main hatch. Once free, she 
fed on any clothes that were in her reach and 



120 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

butted any person who came in her way. When 
she was at liberty it took two or more men to 
secure her, for she was a vixen whose temper 
was savage and unappeasable. 

It has been my privilege to be shipmate with 
almost every kind of living creature, animals, 
insects and birds, and in closing I will say a few 
words about the much hated rats. 

I was on a brig sailing between the "West 
Indies and New York, which had a full comple- 
ment of rats. Some of them were tame. 
There was one fat fellow who found his way to 
my bunk. At first he was timid but he mastered 
it and was exceedingly friendly, for I could 
hold a pan for him to eat, but if I attempted to 
stroke his fur he would skedaddle away. It 
was amusing to watch them steal molasses from 
the casks. They sat on the bung hole and 
allowed their tails to trail within. By licking 
each other's tail they secured a plentiful supply. 



HOW SAILORS WASH THEIR 
CLOTHES 



How Sailors Wash 
Their Clothes 

WE must have been about ten days out 
from Barbados on my first trip to 
sea, when Captain Dunscombe or- 
dered me to bring all my traps on 
deck for his inspection. I felt ashamed to ex- 
pose my ignorance, for I had never washed a 
shirt, made a bed, or sewn on a button; in fact 
I did not know how to care for my clothing and 
bedding. 

During my short period of sea-sickness I had 
soiled some of my clothes and had stowed them 
in my cubby hole, the sail locker. The colored 
cook used a part of this locker in which to keep 
his stores, and while rummaging around the 
mainsail which was stowed there, he discovered 
my offensive clothing and brought it on deck 
for the old man to see what a dirty boy he had 
aboard. True enough, for at this time I had 

123 



124 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

not a clean garment in my outfit. My first 
lesson in cleanliness was now given. 

Captain Dunscombe had one of his sailors fill 
a deck bucket with fresh water, and, seating him- 
self by my side, he taught me how to wash my 
clothes. It was a new experience for me. It 
seems strange to me that my sailor brothers did 
not tell my mother that it was necessary for me 
to know how to wash and mend my clothes. 
No doubt they thought of it, but they knew 
that in Barbados it was almost impossible for a 
respectable family to wash .their clothes, as it 
was considered degrading, so the negroes did 
that work. And again, the method of washing 
clothes is very different from that of northern 
countries. The negro washer women carry the 
clothes to some running stream or river, and 
after giving them a few rubs on a small board, 
they rinse them in the ocean by pounding them 
on a white boulder at ebb tide. Then they are 
spread on the white, burning sands of the beach 
to dry. I had no knowledge of wash tubs and 
scrubbing boards, and had never seen clothes 
soaped and rubbed between the hands, therefore, 
the lesson I was then receiving on the Meteor 
was very much needed. 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 125 

Before I proceed farther, I will advise every 
mother whose boy is determined to follow the 
sea for a living, to take her youngster into her 
kitchen and there give him his first lesson in 
a sailor's calling. Teach him how to wash his 
clothes; instruct him in the making of his bed; 
have him sew on his buttons, and put a patch on 
his trousers or mend a rent in his shirt; then as 
he enters upon his duties as boy on board his 
vessel, he will thank you for his instructions. 
Make sure that he can care for the dishes, the 
knives and forks; let him be the housemaid, 
cook, the factotum of the home, for the more 
proficient he is in such duties, the more efficient 
deck boy he will be. Instead of a dirty slouch 
he will be a clean, tidy lad. 

As there are no washer women on board a 
ship, it devolves upon every man to do for him- 
self the personal services which are done for 
men on land, by the other sex. 

After spending fully two hours rubbing and 
rinsing my clothes, I was then shown how to 
secure them to the footstops of the main sail; 
so that they would not blow overboard. As 
cabin boy, I not only received my lessons in 
arranging the dining table for meals, washing 



126 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

and wiping dishes, but was fortunate to have a 
friend to teach me how to wash and mend. I 
have seen boys enlist as apprentices, yes, lands- 
men too, young men fresh from the country, 
who were utterly unable to grapple with the 
conditions of their new surroundings. Un- 
prepared for that self-reliance which is suddenly 
thrust upon them, they go for days and days 
without washing their clothes, until they axe 
forced to do so by the officer of their division. 

I remember a lad of tender age who had en- 
listed as an apprentice. On several occasions 
he was reported for being dirty and at last one 
day his bag was brought on deck. As soon as 
the mouth was opened, a foul odor emanated 
from his clothing. The poor little fellow had 
done his best and had tried to keep clean as well 
as he knew how, but this had proved a failure. 
His condition elicited the sympathy of an old 
"flat foot." The aged jack tar took the bag of 
clothes on a float alongside the ship, and there 
with brush, soap and water, taught the lad how 
to wash his clothes and helped him get his out- 
fit clean once more . 

I was once on board a large American sailing 
ship where we had a middle aged man among 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 127 

our crew. He was a native of Belgium and 
could speak no English. The poor man had a 
sore time of it on deck and hardly any better 
treatment when below among his mates. One 
day when we had been about four weeks at sea 
the sailor who slept in the lower bunk under 
the "Joskin", growled about the dirt and rubbish 
that was constantly falling on him from the 
Belgian's bunk. Every time the unfortunate 
farmer rolled in his sleep, down would fall some 
dirt on the face of his shipmate, disturbing his 
rest. It grew worse every day till at last the 
sailor in the lower bunk inspected the joskin's 
donkey's breakfast. In overhauling it he dis- 
covered that the whole bunk was alive with ver- 
min. His dirty clothes had been pushed under 
the mattress, his bedding and what few clothes 
he owned were filthy beyond description. The 
green horn had no knowledge of washing 
clothes. One of the sailors bent on the end of 
an old piece of rope to the clothes and threw 
them over the side where for four hours they 
were hauled on the surface of the Atlantic till 
they were almost towed into shreds. 

On a deep water sailing ship the water supply 
is a very important factor. As there is no know- 



128 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

ing how much rain water may be caught to re- 
plenish the supply, every man must be careful 
and not waste any. I have seen times when it 
became necessary to put the crew on an allowance 
of water which was hardly enough for drink- 
ing purposes. How then can a sailor wash his 
face, much less his clothes at a time like this? 

On a voyage to Japan I was five weeks with- 
out a drop of fresh water on my face. We were 
on our allowance, and in the heat of the tropics 
we could have used as much again to quench 
our thirs ts. Each morning I . washed my face 
with salt water till I could brush the salt from 
my features and see it fall in scales on my 
jumper. We were steering to the south'ard and 
longingly looked for the rain deluges of the 
tropics. When that solid down-pour fell upon 
us we all turned out from below with dirty 
clothes and blankets, and made a lather of 
soap visible everywhere. To keep clean dur. 
ing the days we were on our allowance, I bent 
on my clothes to the end of my chest lashing, 
and had the ship haul them along on the crest 
of the waves. In this way much dirt was 
removed. The towing of clothes, if the ship is 
making good headway, reduces the sailor's ward- 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 129 

robe, for it will not take many hours for a vessel 
to drag a piece of clothing to ribbons, if she is 
sailing at a good rate. 

When a youngster I took my blankets out 
over the bow and bending on a line, allowed 
them to drag close to the stem of the ship. 
The wavelets from her bow tumbled them over 
and over as they trailed in front of the old girl's 
nose. In an hour when I hauled them aboard 
they were as clean as when I brought them from 
the store. This was such an easy method of clean- 
ing blankets that in about two month's time I 
thought I would give them another drag over 
the bow. But alas! I forgot to take them in 
on going below. Next morning when I remem- 
bered them I hurriedly reached the bowsprit 
and found instead of the white folds of my 
blankets rolling themselves among the foam at 
the bow, a dirty woolen mass wrapped around 
the rusty chain bobstays. I tried to release it 
but could not, as the vessel was then ducking 
into the waves of a strong trade wind. 

It fell a dead calm one forenoon, so I got 
overboard to unwrap my blankets from the bob- 
stay. I was not molested even though my ship- 
mates tried to frighten me by shouting "a shark" 



130 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

while I was overboard, but my labor was in 
vain, for my blankets were now a heap of shreds 
covered with iron rust. Fortunately the slop 
chest was supplied with a few blankets made 
of "dogs wool and oakum," or I should have 
shivered in my bunk when we sailed into cold 
weather. On another occasion I was on a ship 
where the captain did not allow any towing of 
clothes over the side, as he claimed it decreased 
the speed of his vessel. At night he prowled 
around the decks and if there was a line made 
fast on deck on which some sailor was towing 
his clothes, he would set the whole adrift, a 
serious loss to the owner. 

A sailor's great delight is to overhaul his 
belongings. His vessel is at anchor in the bay 
or perhaps moored alongside some wharf. He 
has been hard at work from daylight till dark 
every day of the week. Sunday morning has 
dawned, and as soon as the decks have been 
cleaned, he has the remaining portion of the 
Sabbath to himself. Up comes his bag or chest 
on deck and the contents are aired and dried. 
Then it is he can sit on the coamings of the 
hatch, or on a spare spar or bucket, and gather- 
ing his dirty duds around him, with soap and 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 131 

plent}*- of fresh water, he can wash to his heart's 
delight. The method on a man-of-war is differ- 
ent. Keeping one's clothes clean is an important 
matter on such a vessel. On some war ships 
there are three days in which the man can wash 
clothes while in port, while on others only two 
wash days a week are allowed. The evening be- 
fore the wash clothes day, just before sunset, the 
different parts of the ship are ordered by the 
officer of the deck through the boatswain's mates 
to get up their clothes line. These lines are two 
single ropes reaching the full length of the ship. 
At certain distances apart there are stirrups 
about four feet deep holding them together. 
After the whips are hooked on to the lines, a 
man stands by at each whip waiting for the 
quarter master to report sundown. Then as the 
colors are being lowered the lines are triced 
aloft in their places. At such a time there may 
be other evolutions in progress; the light yards 
are coming down, the awnings triced up; every- 
thing accomplished as though it were the move- 
ments of one great machine. 

The question of fresh water arises at this 
time. The paymaster has served us with salt 
water soap, a mixture of potash and grease which 



132 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

does not give the cleansing lather in salt -water 
that ordinary soap will give in fresh. It is a 
poor substitute at its best. Fresh water on a 
war vessel is a scarce luxury. The condenser is 
at work most of the time for there are many 
men to use the supply. Therefore a marine is 
stationed at the scuttle butt to see that no water 
is taken from it except for drinking. There is 
a dipper fastened to the butt and each man must 
drink what he needs in the presence of the sen- 
try. I have seen men resort to every device to 
secure a bucket of water to Wash their clothes. 
I, myself, have worked the drip bucket scheme. 
As there is a bucket placed by the scuttle butt 
to receive the drippings and leavings of the dip- 
per, we have planned to make frequent visits to 
the scuttle butt, fill the dipper, then take a 
mouthful and empty the remainder into the 
save-all pail. In a little while the bucket needs 
to be emptied. We are ready to do this, and so 
secure a couple of gallons of water. 

Again, when on friendly terms with the fire- 
men on watch, they would allow us to sneak 
down to the fireroom and draw a bucket full 
from the condenser. In port when alongside a 
navy yard dock, it was different. Then our 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 133 

supply was plentiful, but at sea, or at anchor in 
a foreign harbor, we had to watch our chances to 
steal a bucketful to wash our clothes. 

On a certain war vessel the "first luff" gave 
a standing order, that every part of the ship 
was to have a bucket of fresh water to swab 
off the white paint on the bulwarks. Sometimes 
this water was used for this purpose, but more 
frequently it was kept hidden back of a gun 
carriage till the decks were cleaned. Then we 
would divide the water between us. We had 
fully fourteen men in our part of the ship which 
was a large number to bathe in this one pail. 
Still it was better than salt water. I have 
washed in less than half a gallon of water which 
several men had already used. Although only 
muddy soapsuds, thick enough to be cut with a 
knife, it removed the dirt from my face and I 
could then give myself the final polish by dous- 
ing my face with clean salt water. 

If in port and the awnings were housed so as 
to shelter the crew from the falling rain, every 
wash deck bucket was put into use. When the 
awnings are housed only a few stops are in 
use and the remaining ones make excellent 
places to fasten an empty bucket. The weight 



184 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

of it forms a ridge on the awning. In this way 
we could secure water at times for washing 
purposes. 

We had a sailing launch which was seldom 
used. Only when all boats armed and equipped 
for distance service, were called away, or to 
abandon ship, did her keel touch the sea. This 
Noah's Ark was a secluded place for the main- 
top men. Resting in her crutches in their part 
of the ship, they could hide a bucket of water 
from the eyes of the "first luff," or the officer 
of the deck. 

It is the duty of the coxswain of each boat 
to see that his boat's water breaker is filled, 
especially when at sea. On this same ship the 
coxswain of the first cutter was lowered on the 
conduct class as a punishment for not having 
his boat's breaker filled. It was not his fault- 
Before the ship had left the harbor he had filled 
his breaker, but some thoughtless fellow had 
lifted the corner of the boat's cover and getting 
into the boat, had stolen the water. It was 
useless for the coxswain to make this statement; 
for he had no proof, and even if he had, he 
would have settled it on the forecastle head and 
not at the mast. It was well for the thief he 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 185 

was not caught. He would have been court- 
martialed and well he deserved it. If we had 
met with an accident and had to abandon our 
vessel, some twenty or more men would have 
been at sea in an open boat without water. 

When in port we were called at five o'clock 
each morning. One half hour was allowed for 
coffee; then if it was a morning to wash clothes 
the officer of the deck would order the boat- 
swain's mates to pipe, "scrub and wash clothes." 
In both the starboard and port gangways, on top 
and under the forecastle head the crew would do 
their washing. Sometimes a blue flannel shirt 
which did not need much cleansing, or a white 
duck suit too stiff to rub between the hands, were 
placed on deck, and the dirt removed by rubbing 
the scrub brush over them, after first applying a 
liberal coating of soapsuds. 

It may be dark at such an hour according to 
the latitude we were in, or the season of year, 
but whatever the conditions are, the man who 
is scrubbing his clothes must see to it that he 
wets the deck before he begins to scrub, 
otherwise the soapsuds will sink into the dry 
deck, and unless it is a morning when holy 
stones are in order it will require much strength 



136 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

on a hickory broom to remove them. He also 
sees to it in scrubbing, that his soapsuds do not 
spatter the gun carriages, for if they do and 
he neglects to wash them off, he will receive 
a scolding and a growl from the chief of growlers, 
the quarter gunner. 

If we had many pieces of clothing to scrub 
we would hurry and get through, for in thirty 
minutes' time the boatswain's mates would be or- 
dered to lower the lines and in another ten min- 
utes they were triced aloft. If we were not 
through on time and missed the lines, we would 
have to care for our wet clothing, keeping it out 
of sight. Often I have been late in reaching the 
clothes line and have sneaked into the sailing 
launch and there spread my things on the 
thwarts to dry. 

Experience soon taught the green horns where 
not to hang their clothes on the lines. Stretched 
from stem to stern, that portion near the main- 
stay or close to the eyes of the lower main rig- 
ging, or any place in close proximity to the smoke 
stack was undesirable. For if the wind does 
not blow your washed garments against these 
sooted stays and shrouds, in some way they will 
come in contact with the smoke stack, when 



HOW SAILORS WASH CLOTHES 137 

they are piped down in the afternoon. On a 
morning when hammocks were scrubbed those 
who were through first selected the best place 
on the lines near the mizzenmast or forward of 
the fore mast. It was necessary to have our 
hammocks spotless; otherwise at evening quar- 
ters the division officer would reject them and 
order us to scrub them over again the next 
wash day. I have seen men who were slow in 
heeding the call to "stand by their scrubbed 
hammocks," compelled to scrub their hammocks 
two, three and four times over before they were 
passed as clean. It was their own fault as, 
instead of being on deck standing under their 
hammocks to receive them and to keep them 
from striking against the smoke stack guys, or 
being trampled on the deck by others who 
were removing theirs, they were enjoying an 
afternoon nap in some secluded corner of the 
ship. 

The method of washing clothes at sea varies 
little from that in port. There is a sea clothes 
line about six lengths of rope, stirrupped together 
about four feet apart. These lines are secured 
between the main and mizzen rigging. We were 
allowed to scrub our clothes every morning 



138 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

except Sunday. At this rate it was only three 
wash days a week, as those would be the morn- 
ings we were on deck. The crew was divided 
into two watches and this gave a different 
watch on deck each morning. 

Among the many ways of earning a few dol- 
lars on a man-of-war, the scrubbing of clothes 
and hammocks is one of the most lucrative. 
There are several first class petty officers who 
pay others to do their scrubbing. A thrifty 
apprentice or landsman can earn his spending 
money doing this work. We had an ordinary 
seaman who made almost as much money scrub- 
bing clothes and hammocks for the first class 
petty officers, as he earned as a salary from 
the government. He charged seventy-five cents 
a hammock, and some mornings he would be on 
the forecastle head long before all hands were 
called, working with soapsuds to his waist, 
scrubbing with all his might. Had he saved 
his money I should say it was a profitable task, 
but it was only a labor for "Dirty Dick's" saloon 
and the dance halls on Calle St. Theresa in 
Montevideo. 



THE LEAD LINE 



The Lead Line 

SINCE the coming of the mariners' com- 
pass many centuries ago, navigation 
has made steady headway. It is now 
an exact science, and vessels properly 
equipped with needed instruments and with 
men able to use them, can, no matter what the 
winds or seas, or how extended the voyage, be 
brought safely to their destination. 

The instruments used in navigation are, the 
compass, by which ship's courses are steered; 
the sextant by which observations of the sun, 
moon and stars are taken, and through which 
the latitude is ascertained; the chronometer by 
which the longitude is determined; the log, 
which measures the ship's speed; the chart on 
which the ship's position is daily traced; the 
barometer which gives the weight of the 
atmosphere and warning of coming storms; the 
hydrometer which shows the saltness of the sea; 
the thermometer which tells the temperature of 

141 



142 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

the ocean; and the sounding lead which gives 
the depth of water and the nature of the bottom 
over which the ship is sailing. 

The compass, the first in importance to the 
navigator, was known to the Chinese centuries 
before the Christian era, and was brought to 
Europe by the renowned Asiatic traveler, Marco 
Polo, in the latter part of the thirteenth century. 
And though improved in many ways the prop- 
erty of polarity in the lodestone, still remains 
the leading essential. 

Careful steering, and good charts are next to 
the compass. But while sights and observa- 
tions, the study of the barometer, thermometer 
and hydrometer should all be faithfully attended 
to, the lead line will hold its place as one of the 
important guides to navigation until something 
is invented whereby the master mariner can 
penetrate the fog and clouds that obscure the 
sun and other celestial objects. 

The neglect of taking proper soundings has 
caused the loss of more ships and lives than can 
be enumerated. 

In days long past the anxious navigator has 
found relief by resorting to the use of the lead 
line. The story of St. Paul's shipwreck tells 



THE LEAD LINE 143 

how the sailors on his vessel deemed that they 
drew near to land and that they resorted to the 
use of the lead and line. "When they had gone 
a little farther, they sounded again and found 
fifteen fathoms." 

There are seamen who have followed the sea 
for years and have had no experience with the 
lead line or any sounding apparatus. They 
have been on long voyages where it was not 
necessary to take soundings. I have sailed from 
land to land more than six months to reach our 
port of discharge, and during that time the lead 
has not been cast. Again, during a trip on a 
three-masted schooner from La Guayra to Mara- 
caibo, we were using the lead as much as the 
compass in our navigation, even on this short 
passage. 

Although a sailor may have no experience 
with the lead still he has a knowledge of its use in 
soundings. Long before I had ever taken a cast 
I knew how it should be done. My first 
experience of the deep sea lead was on the 
Bermudan brig Excelsior. We were drawing near 
to the American coast bound in to New York, 
when we were enveloped in thick fog. Our 
captain was a competent navigator, and to make 



144 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

sure of his whereabouts after sailing without the 
sun or stars for three days, it became necessary 
for him to seek information from the bottom of 
the sea. Although there was no danger in get- 
ting a cast of the lead, as there was very little 
wind, still on some occasions I have seen all 
hands called and sail shortened, involving much 
labor at the peril of life. 

I was once on a large American ship where 
for a whole night we were standing off the 
Delaware Capes in an easterly gale, and were 
forced to use deep sea lead. At considerable 
peril and much loss of rest for the crew, the ship 
was rounded to the wind in the face of a dan- 
gerous sea, so as to check her speed. Twice 
during that night we had to haul up the main- 
sail and lay the mainyard back. At such a time 
every man is expected to know his duty. 
Should the night be as dark as pitch, an able 
seaman must take the lead, weighing twenty- 
eight pounds, on the forecastle head. He must 
see that the small cavity in the lower end is 
"armed" — filled — with tallow. This reveals the 
nature of the bottom when the lead is hauled 
aboard. It may be gravel, sand, mud, but 
whatever it is, it will aid the master in his 



THE LEAD LINE 145 

navigation, as the nature of the bottom of the 
coast is marked on the chart. 

In the meantime others had manned the rail, 
and starting from the quarter they pass the line 
along on the outside of the ship, till the end 
reaches the man on the forecastle head. Here 
he bends on the end of the line to the lead by 
reeving the eye splice on the end of the line, 
through the grummet on the top of the lead, al- 
lowing the lead to drop through the eye splice. 

All being ready, the man on the forecastle 
head throws the lead overboard, well to wind- 
ward, shouting as he does so, "Heave." The 
man nearest to him feels the tug on the line, 
and he then throws what he has in his hand to 
windward making sure the bight of the line is 
clear of all eyebolts, and shouts, "Watch, there, 
watch." Then the next man as he feels the 
strain lets go of what he is holding and shouts 
the signal, "Watch, there, watch," and so on 
until the line reaches the leadsman aft. Then 
if the lead has not struck the bottom he pays 
out the line and trys to get a sounding. 
Usually there is an officer aft at the line. He 
feels that the strain is released and taps the 
lead two or three times to make sure of his 



146 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

soundings, and then notes the depth by the 
marks on the line. 

The deep sea lead is about one hundred and 
twenty fathoms, the first twenty fathoms of it 
being sometimes marked like the hand lead of 
which I shall write later. Beginning at twenty 
fathoms, there is a small piece of cod line with 
two knots on it, thirty fathoms, the same with 
three knots, forty fathoms with four knots, and 
so on up to one hundred fathoms. Half-way 
between each there is a strip of leather. The 
length of the lead itself is not counted in this 
measurement, so the ship gets the benefit of the 
depth plus the length of the lead. Usually a 
small snatchblock is on the mizzen backstay for 
the purpose of hauling the lead aboard. At 
night the officer of the watch carries the lead to 
the binnacle light and then reports to the cap- 
tain the depth of the cast and the nature of the 
bottom on the tallow. 

I once saved a collection from the bottom of 
the River Rio de la Plata. It was a curious 
assortment of bits of shell and teeth of small 
fish. I have heard old sailors tell of finding 
rare coins, finger rings and pieces of human 
bones fastened on the tallow of the deep sea lead. 



THE LEAD LINE 147 

It is a doleful sound to hear each man along 
the rail shouting, "Watch, there, watch!" I 
once saw the second mate of ship leave the poop, 
and, running down to the main deck, hustle a 
fellow along who was slow in getting aft to haul 
in the lead line. After the lead was aboard he 
received this warning: "When I say come I 
want you to run, and when I say run I want 
you to fly, and when you fly, flap your wings 
or I'll make you." This had a good effect, for 
before the end of the voyage he lost his easy 
gait and could "hop light and come a running" 
as well as any on board. 

The hand lead line is between twenty-five 
and thirty fathoms long, according to the height 
of vessel from the water, but only the first 
twenty fathoms are used in sounding. I have 
seen the planks on the deck of an English 
square rigger marked for the purpose of measur- 
ing a new lead line, but on vessels in which I 
have sailed this was done with a three-foot rule 
and a bit of chalk. A good-sized eye is spliced in 
one end, and after wetting the line it is stretched, 
measured and then marked. The hand lead 
line consists of nine marks and eleven deeps. 
Beginning at two fathoms, a piece of leather with 



148 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

two ends is tucked into the strand of the 
line, at three fathoms there are three ends of 
leather; at five fathoms a piece of white calico, 
at seven a piece of red bunting, at ten a strip 
of leather with a hole in it, at thirteen a piece 
of blue cloth, at fifteen a piece of white calico, 
at seventeen a piece of red bunting, and at 
twenty fathoms a bit of cord with two knots. 

On some lead lines instead of white calico or 
blue cloth, bunting of the same color is used, 
but for accurate soundings on a dark night, the 
leadsman can put the mark in his mouth and 
with his tongue tell whether it is cloth, calico 
or bunting, or he may by feeling the marks tell 
the difference if his fingers are not too cold. 
The fathoms which are not marked are termed 
"deeps." They are 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 
18, 19. 

If a sailing ship is in thick fog close to land 
the officer of the watch may call a man aft and 
have him take a cast of the hand lead, or he may 
do it himself, but on some ocean steamers and 
yachts the lead is in constant use on entering 
and leaving harbor. 

On a war vessel as soon as the ship draws 
near to the channel the leadsman is at his post. 



THE LEAD LINE 149 

He fastens a large canvas apron to the shrouds 
of the rigging so that it will hold him as he 
stretches his body well over on the outside of 
his ship. The apron reaching to his feet, pro- 
tects him from the water falling from the line. 
Making fast one end of the line to a shroud he 
takes hold of the other end about nine feet from 
the lead, and then swings the lead backward and 
forward till there is motion enough for him to 
swing it over his head two or three times. He 
must then let it go at the right time, so that it 
will drop close alongside under the bow. By 
the time the vessel has reached the place where 
the lead sunk it has had time to reach the bot- 
tom. As the line comes up and down under the 
leadsman he taps the bottom smartly and shouts 
the depth of water to the officer on the bridge. 
If he sees the piece of red bunting on the surface 
of the water he calls out, "By the mark seven." 
If it should be some distance from the water, he 
uses his judgment and calls "A quarter less 
seven," or "And a half six," "And a quarter 
six." Perhaps he feels safe in believing the 
mark seven is a good fathom from the water and 
calls "By the deep six," and so on through the 
nine marks and eleven deeps, he calls the sound- 



150 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

ings he receives. Generally the hand lead 
weighs seven pounds, but when the vessel is go- 
ing at a good rate of speed a fourteen pound lead 
is necessary. It requires much practice to be- 
come a good leadsman. The starboard leadsman 
throws the lead with his right hand and the 
port with his left. 

On a certain war vessel we had a seaman who 
was accustomed to throw the lead from the star- 
board chains. He was changed to the foretop and 
his first cast of the lead from the port chains caused 
a man to go on the sick list for several days. 
Instead of the lead dropping on the outside of 
the ship it landed on the starboard side of the 
forecastle head, falling on the feet of a fireman. 
It was well the force of the lead was broken 
by first striking the fish davit or it would have 
broken the man's head. 

Whenever the apprentices were instructed in 
c sting the lead we took good care to keep 
out of the way, as there was no telling where 
the lead would drop, for it might go all over 
the forecastle head instead of the sea. A good 
leadsman is a valuable man. A part of the ex- 
amination a merchant sailor receives when he 
joins the navy is a cast of the lead. 



THE LEAD LINE 151 

I recall the first time I saw Lord Kelvin's (Sir 
William Thomson,) sounding machine used. I 
was then on a war vessel. The boatswain's 
mate sent me aft to assist the quartermaster in 
taking a cast of the lead. 

This machine consists of about three hundred 
fathoms of galvanized wire to which is attached 
a glass tube about fifteen inches long by three 
quarters of an inch in diameter. This tube 
contains a secret chemical compound on the 
principal of the thermometer. To the tube is 
fastened a rod of small iron called the sinker, 
which, when sounding takes the tube to the 
bottom where the density of the water acting on 
the chemical therein shows when carefully read 
on the indicator, also attached to the tube, the 
exact depth of the water. 

With the ship going at full speed ahead, the 
quartermaster, aided by two men to attend the 
brakes and wind in the wire, it ascertained cor- 
rectly the depth of one hundred fathoms in less 
than ten minutes. 

The seamen today feel kindly disposed to this 
sounding machine which has removed the hard- 
ship of the deep sea lead, and navigators the 
world over feel greatly indebted to Lord Kelvin, 



152 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

not only for his sounding machine, but because 
in many ways he has done more than any other 
man to advance the science of navigation. 



RHYMES FORETELLING 
WEATHER 



Rhymes Foretelling 
Weather 

THERE is considerable truth in the 
rhymes used by seamen in detecting 
signs of a coming storm. Although 
it matters little to a modern steamer 
what the weather is, as long as it keeps clear, 
still if such an up-to-date craft is in the hurri- 
cane regions during the season, it will give the 
master much anxiety. 

Tropical cyclones generally originate in 
about latitude 10° north or south of the equa- 
tor. The sign of an approaching hurricane is 
the ugly threatening appearance which comes 
ahead of most severe gales, and increases in 
severity at every gust. Sometimes a long 
heavy swell and confused sea will precede the 
hurricane, rolling from the direction in which the 
hurricane is approaching. The halo around the 
sun, the moist and heavy air with squalls of 

155 



156 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

misty rain, the light feathery whitish glare of 
the sky all give evidence that bad weather is at 
hand. In northern latitudes a mackerel sky 
moving rapidly from the westward indicates an 
approaching westerly gale. The mare's tail is 
another sign of a coming storm. Oily looking 
clouds tell of wind, while soft ones speak of 
fine weather. High upper clouds crossing the 
sun and moon in a direction opposite to that 
from which the wind is blowing indicate a 
change of wind coming from that direction. 
When the first glimmer of dawn appears over a 
bank of clouds instead of the horizon, it fore- 
tells wind. When the first streaks of light ap- 
pear on the horizon expect fine weather. A 
rapid rise of the barometer indicates unsettled 
weather. A slow, steady rise foretells fair 
weather. A rapid fall a heavy gale with rain. 

"A red sky in the morning, 
Sailors take warning, 
A red sky at night, 
The sailors delight." 

The same rhyme answers for the rainbow as 
it does for the sky. 

In squally weather this old doggerel has its 
truth. 



FORETELLING WEATHER 157 

"When the rain's before the wind 
Topsail halliards you must mind, 
When the wind's before the rain, 
Soon you may make sail again." 

* * * * * 

"At sea with low and falling glass, 
Soundly sleeps the careless ass. 
Only when it's high and rising, 
Safely rests the careful wise one." 

"Evening red and morning grey, 

Are excellent signs of a very fine day." 

"Mackerel sky and mare's tails 
Make lofty ships carry low sails." 

* * # * * 

The doggerell for the barometer is: 

"Quick rise after low 
Foretells stronger blow. 
Long foretold, long last, 
Short notice soon past." 

The flight of the sea gull is also an indication 

of the weather. 

"The wind will blow hard when the gull comes ashore" 

* * * * * 

"Sea gull, sea gull, sit on the sand, 

It's never good weather when you're on the land." 



RULES OF THE ROAD AT SEA 



Rules of the Road at 
Sea 

THE rules governing the direction 
which ships may take at sea are 
very clearly defined by the interna- 
tional laws of all maritime countries, 
and when violated by masters of either steam or 
sailing vessels, are very drastically punished. 
If a collision occurs by disregarding the rule of 
the road at sea, the ship so doing is held respon- 
sible for all damage, and in case, as it sometimes 
happens, lives are sacrificed, the master of the 
ship at fault is tried before the court of the 
country in whose jurisdiction the casualty hap- 
pens for manslaughter, and punished as a com- 
mon criminal. For these reasons, "Rules of 
the Road" as they are termed, are strictly fol- 
lowed by most navigators. 

When a ship is at sea, the officer in charge 
of the deck is usually expected to keep a bright 

161 



162 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

lookout. A following ship must always keep 
clear of a ship ahead. If the weather is foggy 
the steam whistle is periodically blown. But 
foggy or clear, good weather or bad, at sundown 
all lights are in their places and the lookout 
man takes his stand in the crows nest. The 
lights of a steamer at sea, electricity being now 
much used, are a white light on the foremast 
head, a green light on the starboard bow or 
bridge, and a red light on the port, all of which 
have clearly defined significations, and to the 
initiated speak a plain language, which is thus 
poetically put by some ancient nautical genius. 
At sea, two steamships meeting: — 

"When all three lights I see ahead, 
I port my helm and show my red." 

Two steamships passing: — 

"Green to green or red to red, 
Perfect safety, go ahead." 

Two steamships crossing: — 

"If to my starboard, red appear, 

It is my duty to keep clear 

To act as judgment says is proper; 

To port, or starboard, back or stop her. 

But when upon my port is seen 

A steamer's starboard light of green, 



RULES OF THE ROAD 163 

There's naught for me to do but see, 
That green to port, keeps clear of me. 

Both in safety and in doubt, 
I always keep a bright lookout; 
In danger, with no room to turn, 
I ease her, stop her, go a-stern." 
For sailing vessels, the rule of the road is:— 
"On starboard tack, with yards braced tight, 
bee that your red and green are bright, 
For every ship that's in your way, 
Must clear your track both night and day. 
But if on the port tack you steer, 
Stand by! for you must then keep clear 
Of every close hauled ship ahead, 
No matter whether green or red." 



SIGNALLING AT SEA 



Signalling at Sea 

A SHIP desiring to hold a conversation 
with another ship while on the deep 
must first display the flag of the 
nation to which she belongs. 

The other ship immediately hoists the flag of 
her country. The first ship then begins the 
conversation which can be carried on indefi- 
nitely. 

Eighteen flags of various shapes and colors 
constitute the international "Code of Signals." 
It is a most interesting mathematical fact that, 
with this small number of flags, and never 
more than four displayed at any one time, any 
amount of conversation can be kept up; and no 
fewer than 78642 questions can be asked and 
answered. When the new "Code of Signals," 
consisting of the whole alphabet is put into 
general use, the number of questions will be more 
than doubled. 

In signalling at night the conversation is 

167 



168 A BUNCH OF ROPE YARNS 

much more limited, and is carried on by means 
of various colored lights, by guns and rockets. 
The national ensign upside down, or in its 
absence any flag or token unusually displayed 
from mast or yard signifies distress and need of 
assistance, and at night a rocket has the same 
meaning. Any vessel seeing such signals at a 
day or night must, if able, go immediately to 
give relief, and is expected to do all in its power 
to render assistance in food or the saving of 
life. The towing of a distressed ship to port or 
safe anchorage is optional and cannot be 
insisted on. 



NOV 11 li*» 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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